The Man Out of Time
by goofnutgav
Summary: If someone told me that I would've wound up in the future and that I would become a superhero, I would've told them that they were crazy, but it happened and now six anthros, along with myself have formed a team called The Loonatics to protect the public of Acmetropolis from harm. Read on to see my adventures as a hero.
1. Prologue

Matthews Industries, Seattle, Washington, August 7, 2008.

I was putting the final touches on my latest invention-just a little gadget that would change the world as we know it. That might sound humble, but it's hard to be humble when you're as smart as I am. They tried to test my IQ once when I was a child, but all I can tell you is that my results made Einstein look like a kindergartner. All the other little kids made fun of me in school, but that just gave me more time alone to tinker and invent things. Now at the ripe old age of 20, I own my own multinational technology company. Take that you little brats.

Suddenly, one of my assistants came barreling into my lab, bursting with excitement. I looked up, doing my best impression of Spock and said, "What is it Tom? What has got you so worked up that you would come barging into my personal lab and interrupt me while I'm working?" I asked.

"It's finished Mr. Matthews, we've finally done it. Come with me," Tom said.

I knew what he was talking about and although I felt excitement rise up in me, I didn't want to get my hopes up too high as I got up from my seat and followed him to a big lab that had a level 5 security clearance. After being approved for entry by the retinal scanner, we went inside to see a huge machine that was connected to large generators.

"This is it Mr. Matthews. Today we make history. " Tom said.

I nodded while I looked over the machine that would change history. Literally. If it worked, I would be able to travel in time.

Ever since I read "The Time Machine" by H.G Wells when I was eight, I had been fascinated with the prospect of traveling to the past and into the future. Two years ago, I had my assistants start working on the machine I had designed and now that it was completed, I anticipated all kinds of adventures.

"You're right Tom. Are the security measures in place?" I asked.

"Yes sir. We have been running full diagnostics and everything has been fully calibrated, we should have no problems at all," Tom said.

"Good. Now let's start it up," I said.

Tom turned to the men working at the consoles and nodded and the men started up the machine.

"Power to stage one emitters in 3, 2, 1," one of the men said and a beam of light started coming from the machine.

"Everything seems to be running smoothly. Stage 2 emitters starting...now," the man said.

The beam seemed to stop in midair, then widened into a large circle of what looked like shimmering water. We all held our breath as we waited for the portal to destabilize. When it didn't, everyone began cheering and clapping.

"It worked! We did it everyone!" I exclaimed, feeling awe.

"Yes...we did. ladies and gentlemen, we have made history," Tom said.

Suddenly, alarms started blaring and the hole started to get bigger.

"What's happening?!" I yelled in dread.

"The energy levels are still rising!" one of the men shouted in panic.

"Shut it down! Now!" Tom screamed.

"We're trying! It's not shutting down!" The man yelled in terror.

"Alert security and evacuate the building! We need to get everyone out of here!" I shouted.

Then, the hole started imploding and began sucking everything in the room toward it.

 _"Oh fuck me, we just opened up a black hole. What have we done? God help us all,"_ I thought in horror.

I grabbed the nearest railing, trying to prevent myself from being sucked in, but as my feet began to lift off the floor, something hit my head and everything went black.

* * *

Acmetropolis, California, February 5, 2767.

 _"Oh God, my head,"_ I thought while I was regaining consciousness. Slowly getting up, I looked around to see where I am.

From what I could see, I was standing in an alleyway and when I walked over to the exit, what I saw made me gasp out in disbelief.

I was in a large city, but that wasn't what shocked me. What shocked me was seeing honest-to-god hover cars flying above me. The clothes that the people were wearing were completely different then mine. I saw a police officer walking by, wearing what appeared to be a law enforcement uniform complete with a duty belt. He was looking at a holographic screen that appeared to be projecting up out of his watch.

I began to walk down the street, looking at everything in awe when I suddenly crashed into someone, sending me, books and the stranger to the ground.

"Fucking Hell! Careful!" The stranger exclaimed in pain.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was..." I trailed off when I got a good look at who and what I bumped into.

I didn't know what I was looking at, the stranger was a brown anthro coyote that was wearing glasses and a lab coat. Judging by his voice and build, I concluded that he was male. The coyote was kneeling down, grumbling in irritation and picking up the books he had dropped. I tried to stay calm and help him out since freaking out would cause a scene.

"Here, let me help you with that," I said, kneeling down and picking up any books that were still on the pavement and handing them over to the coyote.

"Thanks," He replied, looking grateful.

"I'm truly sorry for what happened, I wasn't looking at where I was going. God, I'm so embarrassed," I said sheepishly.

"It's okay, it was just an accident," The coyote said, brushing off any dirt that was on himself.

"Say, are you a scientist? I couldn't help but notice the labcoat you are wearing," I asked him.

"Not exactly. I'm just starting at Acme Tech today," The coyote said.

"I'm sorry? I'm new here. Acme Tech, what's that?" I asked.

"The Acme Tech Institute. It's a prestigious university where you go to learn to be one of the greatest inventors in Acmetropolis," The coyote explained, looking proud.

 _"Acmetropolis? Must be the name of this city. But where have I heard the name Acme before?"_ I thought. I wracked my brain to figure out where I had heard that name before. Suddenly, my eyes widened at the realization of where I had heard it before.

 _"I remember! Acme is that company that was mentioned in those Loony Tunes cartoons. Why the Hell would someone build a city and name it after a fictional company that sells products that had a habit of backfiring on that poor coyote. Wait. Coyote?"_ I thought in slight disbelief.

"Sounds interesting, maybe I could enroll in that university," I suggested.

"I don't know, Acme Tech doesn't just let everyone in. You not only have to be really good at science and technology, you also need to pass the entrance exam, which is very challenging for most who attempt it," The coyote explained.

"You don't need to worry about that. Who knows, maybe we'll be lab partners when I do pass the exam," I said.

"Maybe. Say, what's your name? If you're going to enroll in the Acme Tech Institute, then I'm going to want to know who you are," The coyote asked me.

"Oh, sorry. My name is Ethan Matthews. How about you?" I asked.

"Tech E. Coyote, it's nice to meet you," Tech introduced himself while we shook hands. Paws. Whatever. I was reeling over the coyote's last name, and trying not to be rude.

Once we were done introducing ourselves, Tech offered to show me to the university so I could look into applying for the entrance exam. As we headed to Acme Tech, I thought about how my life was going to be a lot more interesting from now on.

* * *

Acme Tech Institute, Acmetropolis, California, March 7, 2772.

After I passed the entrance exam, I was lucky to be paired up with Tech as his roommate and we had been working together ever since. Although most of our time together went by quickly and we had become good friends, an unfortunate incident did happen during that time. A year ago, we were tutoring a woman named Mallory Casey, who was designing and creating a machine that would amplify brain wave patterns. When she had presented her final project to the Professors, Tech and I found out to our horror that she was going to use this invention to drain the intellect from the Professor's minds and transfer it to herself, leaving them brain dead. Luckily, we stopped her by deactivating her project at the last minute, but our sabotage caused a misfire of energy to hit her, causing her head to enlarge in size. When the police arrived to arrest her, she swore vengeance on us as she was being escorted out of the building. Tech and I swore to each other that we would never use our intellect for harm, like Mallory.

Tech and I were putting the final touches on our senior thesis project, preparing it for demonstration, while the professors were staring at us impatiently.

"Tech, Ethan, you're keeping us from lunch. Now are you two going to demonstrate your project or not?" One of the professors asked us in irritation.

"Yes sir, we just need to make a last few adjustments and we should be good to go. Okay Tech, run final safety diagnostics," I said. Tech started the process and the Professor threw up his hands in frustration and jumped up out of his chair.

"Oh for God sakes you two! Get out of the way, I'll turn it on myself!" The man exclaimed, moving us out of the way none too gently and reaching for the button near him. My eyes bulged in horror as I reached to prevent him from touching it.

"Wait! Don't touch the..." Tech tried to warn him but it was too late.

The Professor pressed the button and our project exploded, sending Tech and I flying through the wall. We slowly picked ourselves up out of the rubble and Tech continued, "...self destruct mechanism."

We were covered in cuts, bruises, and soot. I was coughing and fanning the air around me while Tech retrieved what was left of our project, and cradled it, staring at it in despair.

"Our baby," Tech whimpered, looking like he was about to cry.

Then the professor came storming out of the hole in the wall, coughing and waving the dust away, glaring at us.

"I used to think you two were brilliant, now I think you two are just crazy. Leave and don't come back," The man said sharply before turning around and storming back into the hole.

"Wait! It did work before you blew it up! Just give us a chance!" Tech cried out desperately.

"Forget it Tech, he's not going to listen. God, what a dick," I said bitterly.

"But it does work. If only someone can see that," Tech said, looking crestfallen.

Suddenly, the ground started shaking and I saw people running away, screaming in terror.

 _"What the fuck's going on?"_ I thought uneasily, then I saw an honest-to-God giant meteor, a huge bright light with a fiery tail, plummeting out of the sky and crashing into the bay several blocks away. Instantly, the massive shockwave approached us, sending people flying as it destroyed buildings and cars in its wake.

"Run!" I screamed in terror.

I jumped on Tech to shield him, just as we were knocked unconscious from the pressure of the shockwave hitting us and sending us airborne.

* * *

I groaned as I was regaining consciousness, feeling like someone had gone to town on me with a sledgehammer.

"What the Hell happened?" I said out loud. I must have been out for some time because the sun was setting and it was getting dark.

I looked around and even in the dim light, I was completely horrified at the devastation I could see. Buildings everywhere were destroyed and the totaled cars littered the landscape. I could see several people and parts of people near where I was laying on the ground.

"Oh God," I said softly in disbelief, feeling like I was going to vomit from seeing the carnage all around me. I looked for Tech and caught sight of his lab coat nearby. I shakily got to my feet and limped over to my friend.

"Tech! Holy shit!" I sobbed.

My friend was barely recognizable. A large chunk of what looked like concrete was on his head and he had been impaled through the chest by some flying rebar. If Tech wasn't wearing his lab coat, I might not have recognized him.

"Oh God Tech...I'm so sorry," I barely said as I pulled the concrete off my friend's head. I turned away, unable to look at the damage I had uncovered.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a green glow surrounding Tech's body. As I watched in astonishment, his head reformed back to normal, the rebar was ejected from his chest and his torso completely healed up. Before my eyes, Tech had completely regenerated back to his old self and began to stir, groaning.

 _"What the fuck?"_ I thought incredulously.

"Ohh my head...Ethan? What happened? Why are you looking at me like that?" Tech asked me.

"Tech, A minute ago, your head was caved into a bloody pulp and your torso was shredded. You've just regenerated from the damage," I explained, causing Tech to start gaping at me.

"Ethan, what you just said is not scientifically possible. No one can heal up from the kind of damage you just described," Tech said skeptically.

"Well you did and now we need to get to safety," I said firmly.

Suddenly, a police helicopter flew overhead and shined it's searchlight down at us.

"If you can hear me, look up and wave," The pilot said through the megaphone.

Tech and I waved, and the pilot responded "If you can walk, head to the stadium. The Red Cross and the National Guard have set up an emergency shelter there for survivors."

Then the pilot turned the helicopter toward a collapsing parking garage and flew off to help a person on the top level who was waving for help.

"Come on Tech, we need to move. It's not safe here," I said seriously.

Tech nodded and we started limping to the stadium, helping anyone that was still alive along the way.

We were almost to the stadium when a building near us began to collapse and a giant anvil fell out of a top floor window and plummeted directly at our heads.

Before I could yell "Oh fuck me!" in horror, Tech had raised his hands in an attempt to shield himself. The same green glowing energy appeared around his upraised hands and shot toward the falling anvil and debris, surrounding it all and halting it in midair. Tech and I stared up at the floating anvil in shock.

"Tech, how the Hell are you doing that?" I questioned him breathlessly, not knowing what the Hell was happening anymore.

"I don't know. This is incredible," Tech said in awe.

"Well, however you are doing it, let's just get to safety so we don't die," I said.

Tech nodded and lowered his hands, directing the debris to settle gently in a safe area nearby. I could see that across the face of the anvil were the large letters "ACME." I felt hysterical laughter bubble up and out of me. I managed to gasp out, "Who keeps a sixteen-ton anvil on the top floor of a building?"

As I was wiping hysterical tears away, Tech said, "Really? We need to get to the shelter before anything else falls on us!"

"Yes," I gasped, trying to regain my breath, "...Anvil... ACME... are you fucking kidding me?"

We heard another rumble as the building we were standing next to began to buckle and crumble.

"Holy shit! Move!" I yelled urgently.

Tech turned to look up and fell into the path of falling debris.

"No!" I screamed in horror, reaching my hand out to Tech. As I watched, my arm stretched like rubber, wrapped around Tech's torso and yanked him out of danger. When he was safe, my arm unwrapped itself from Tech's torso and returned to normal, causing me to stare at my hands in disbelief. All I could think about was how that should have really hurt, but it didn't. I was stunned.

"Ethan...how did you do that?" Tech asked me.

I didn't say anything and kept looking at my hands. Somehow, I had the unnatural ability of elasticity. I kept theorizing how this happened and my thoughts turned to the meteor that fell from the sky.

 _"Could the meteor have done this to us? It seems like whatever had happened to us has somehow altered our genetic code down to the cellular level. Whatever the case may be, we need to do some tests to find out how much of our genetic code was altered,"_ I thought.

"Tech, we need to figure out what happened to us and see if other people were changed like we were," I said.

"You're right. But what we need to do first is get to the stadium for shelter," Tech said.

We arrived at the stadium to find a line at the front gate. Volunteers were going up and down the line, looking for people who needed immediate medical attention and bringing them inside first. When we got to the head of the line, volunteers at a desk were filling out a form for each person, checking people in, and telling them where to go once they went inside the stadium.

"Are you hurt? You need any medical attention?" the woman asked us.

"No, we're fine. A bit shaken up though. Is there anywhere here we can lie down? I am exhausted" I said.

"There are plenty of beds still available. We have the cots numbered in the tents down on the field," the woman said, handing us each a number. "Let's get your paperwork done, then you can go inside, and a volunteer will help you find your spots."

A few minutes later, our intake forms were complete and we stood up to go inside. "Thank you, Ma'am," I said to the woman, "Come on Tech, let's get some rest."

A volunteer showed us to the right tent and pointed out our cots. Tech and I walked over to the beds and I sat down, pretty much exhausted. I looked around, seeing people looking scared and injured. Among all the people, I saw a male grey anthro rabbit talking to a yellow anthro female rabbit that was wearing a torn up cheerleading outfit. I saw an anthro black duck dressed up in a poolboy outfit, sitting on a bed and looking irritated while a large brown Tasmanian devil that was wearing a wrestling outfit was walking around, speaking gibberish to anyone that was nearby. Lastly, I saw a male road runner talking rapidly to a few doctors that looked like they wanted to strangle him to shut him up.

 _"Things are never going to be the same again,"_ I thought, lying down and settling in to get some sleep.

* * *

Location Unknown, Acmetropolis, California, March 7, 2772.

A lone figure in a red hooded cloak was standing in front of various screens and monitors that were showing different parts of Acmetropolis. The figure was a tall woman with blond hair and green eyes.

"What have you done brother?" The woman said, hating herself for getting innocents involved in her war against her brother.

"If I don't find a way to stop him in time, all of Earth will be destroyed, and every innocent life will be wiped out," The woman commented to herself as she kept watching the monitors.

Suddenly, an alarm went off and her attention turned toward the security sensors. The sensors had sprung to life as they had detected several anomalies on the screen that showed a map of the city. From what the woman could see, there were seven different blips in one location.

"Hmm...interesting, seems the meteor my brother had unleashed on the planet has caused some unexpected side effects," The woman concluded while the computer played back to show seven different individuals, six anthros and one human exhibiting different abilities. The woman felt intrigued at seeing the abilities being displayed and she wondered if those seven people could be what she's looking for.

"Perhaps they could be Earth's only hope. Computer! Analyze subjects and list all information about them!" The woman ordered.

The computer complied by processing data from the images of the seven people that were on the screens.

 _"Now I just need to find a way to bring them together and hope that they will help,"_ The woman thought, preparing for a way to gather them together.


	2. Prologue 2

Acmetropolis, California, March 15, 2772.

It had been several days since the meteor fell and Tech and had been spending time in an abandoned junkyard, testing our powers to see what our limits were. When Tech started his tests, I was fascinated to see that not only did he possess magnekinesis, he also had the power of molecular regeneration. With those abilities, he could not only levitate and crush anything metallic, but he could also heal and reform himself from any kind of damage. Needless to say, he wasn't keen on testing his power of regeneration since he still feels pain when he does get hurt. As for me, I have discovered that the meteor had given me two abilities. The first ability is amorphous physiology-my body has become a liquid substance with elastic properties that can shape-shift into any form I can think of. My second ability is power mimicry. By just touching a person, I can copy their talents and abilities and use them for myself. I discovered the second ability the hard way when I bumped into Tech by accident and then stumbled backwards onto a live power cable. I was electrocuted and disintegrated into ashes, scaring the hell out of Tech and me in the process. Seconds later, I reformed back to normal, discovering that I had luckily mimicked Tech's power of regeneration, along with his family history of bad luck.

When we took a few blood tests, we were dumbfounded to discover that our genetic code had been greatly altered at a cellular level. We were shocked that our bodies were so drastically changed by the meteor but the scientists in us were simply giddy with excitement, knowing that this was the discovery of the century. Tech and I decided to run more tests to make sure that there were no further mutations.

Back in the junkyard again today, I was playing around, forming my body into a ball shape and smashing myself into a wrecked car. Tech was taking notes on his holographic wrist computer.

"How did I do?" I asked, after I had liquefied and reformed back into my human form.

"Fascinating, I have never seen anything like this before. From what I can see, you can morph into different shapes flawlessly. Let's try something else. How about transforming into me," Tech suggested.

I nodded and focused on changing into an exact replica of Tech as I felt my body shifting into a different shape. When I was done, Tech was staring at me in awe.

"How about now?" I asked, and my eyes widened when I heard Tech's voice coming out of my mouth.

"See for yourself," Tech said, pointing to a mirror with a look of amazement on his face.

I walked over to the mirror and I was astounded when I saw my refection. Instead of seeing a casually dressed 5'9" tall, 25 year old human male with blond hair and green eyes, I saw Tech staring back at me with a look of astonishment on his face. What really amazed me was that there was no difference at all in detail and that I had perfectly replicated Tech's clothes as well. Tech walked over to me and we both looked at each other.

"Incredible, it's like looking in a mirror. Nothing's out of place, not even the slightest detail and you can impersonate clothes and voices as well. If I didn't know any better, I would have mistaken you for a clone," Tech said breathlessly.

I looked back in the mirror and started feeling my new fur, tail, ears, and muzzle, discovering that not only did they look the same as Tech's, they even felt the same.

"This is amazing. I can shape-shift into different forms so perfectly that nobody would be able to tell the difference. This ability would be perfect for infiltration," I said gleefully.

I shifted back to my human form and I started thinking about the repercussions of what I could do. From what I could tell, when I transformed into another person, I was such an exact replica of that person, right down to the clothing and voice that nobody could tell the difference. What scared me was the thought that if someone else had this ability and wanted to use it for evil, they could commit a crime in the shape of an innocent bystander, framing someone else for their crime. It was like that famous quote from Spider-man, "With great power, comes great responsibility." I knew that I needed to make sure that I would never abuse something like this and never become like Mallory.

Suddenly, I heard a noise coming from a public communications booth nearby, as if someone were calling. Tech and I stared at it in confusion.

"What the Hell? Who could that be?" I asked Tech, who gave a shrug in response.

"I don't know, let's find out," Tech said.

Feeling dubious, Tech and I walked over to the booth. I pushed the on switch and the screen lit up but was all static and I couldn't see anyone.

"Hello?" I asked hesitatingly.

"Hello Ethan, I've been trying to contact you and Tech for a few days now," A calm female voice said.

"Who the Hell is this? Why are you trying to contact us?" I questioned, not liking that this person knew who I was and could be watching us right now.

"My name is Zadavia and as for why I am contacting you, that will be explained in time. For now, five other people that have been changed by the meteor like you and Tech have are going to be coming over to the junkyard to meet you two. I'll watch and let you all get acquainted," Zadavia explained.

And just as she said that, I heard more than one person coming toward us. Within a few seconds, five anthros appeared from around the corner and came toward us. I recognized them from our first night at the stadium. They were the male and female rabbits, the road runner, the duck, and the Tasmanian devil.

"Those are the two people that Zadavia talked about? They don't look like much," The duck said rudely, his voice holding a slight lisp.

"Be nice Duck. Sorry about him, he can be a bit of an asshole. Name's Lexi Bunny." The female rabbit said.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Ethan Matthews and this is Tech E. Coyote," I said.

"Good to meet you Doc. My name is Ace Bunny, no relation to Lexi over here and these three are Rev Runner, Daniel Duck and Slam Tasmanian," Ace said, with a strong Brooklyn accent.

Suddenly, Rev was instantly in front us Tech and I, shaking our hands rapidly.

"It's really nice to meet you two, this is so amazing, I thought I was the only one with super powers until Zadavia contacted me and told me where to meet with the others. I could see that I'm not the only person with super powers, this will be interesting. Do you have superpowers too? What's your power? Mine is-" Rev rambled on in a never ending rapid fire speech until Tech clamped his hand on Rev's beak, out of irritation to shut him up.

"Yes Rev, it's nice to meet you too but how did you get over here so fast? You had to be standing a few feet away from us," I asked him as Tech was taking his hand off Rev's beak.

Rev didn't say anything but literally zoomed around the junkyard at such an extremely fast speed that all I could see was a blur. He was going so fast that I thought that he was going to break the sound barrier until he came to a sudden stop in front of us.

"Well, what do you think?" Rev asked us.

"Incredible, you were moving so fast that you could have gone faster than the speed of sound. How about the rest of you?" Tech asked the others.

"Watch and observe," Daniel said smugly and he literally vanished in a second before appearing next to us and teleporting back to his original position. Tech and I stared at him in astonishment.

"Hold your applause, 'cause this handsome duck has more to show you," Daniel said arrogantly before a flaming sphere of energy appeared in his hand. Before anyone could stop him, he threw it at a wrecked car which immediately exploded, forcing me, Tech, and everyone else to drop to the ground, covering our heads.

"Fucking Hell!" I yelled in panic.

"Jesus Danny! Are you trying to fucking kill us?!" Lexi shouted in a pissed off tone, while we were getting up off the ground.

"Huh, must've put too much power into it, oh well," Daniel commented in a nonchalant tone before he asked Tech and I, "What do you think? Pretty amazing for someone as awesome as myself."

Glaring at the egotistical asshole, I snapped in irritation, "What the Hell is wrong with you, dumbass?! We could've gotten killed!"

"Well sorry if I just wanted to show everyone how awesome I am," Daniel said snidely.

My eyes widened in fury and I was about to walk over there and knock that arrogant douchebag into next week when Tech put his hand on my shoulder and he shook his head, sending a silent message that it wasn't worth it and I took a few deep breaths to calm down.

"Okay, now that everyone has calmed down, let me show you two what I can do," Ace said. He fired lasers from his eyes at the ground a safe distance away from us, leaving two small smoking craters.

"Holy shit. That's impressive," Tech said.

Tech and I looked at Slam, who babbled some sort of gibberish and spun around until he turned into a small tornado and smashed into a car, sending it flying a few feet away. He stopped spinning and grinned at us, still babbling.

"That's awesome, but what is he saying? What language is that?" I asked in confusion.

"I don't know," Lexi answered with a shrug, "It's just the way he talks. Now my powers are simple. I can hear anything at a great distance and I can fire a concentrated blast of psychic energy at a target. What are your powers?"

"I possess the abilities of magnekinesis and molecular regeneration," Tech explained, and Daniel stared at him in confusion.

"I'm sorry, what? Do you think you can explain it without the geekspeak?" Daniel asked rudely, causing Tech and I to glare at him for the geek comment.

"Okay asshole, let me dumb it down for you. Basically I can not only levitate and crush anything metallic, I can reform and heal up from any kind of damage or disintegration," Tech explained in irritation.

"As for me, my abilities are amorphous physiology and power mimicry. Basically, my body has become a liquid-like substance that can reshape and flow into any form I desire, I can also replicate clothes and voices, making me a perfect infiltrator. As for my second ability, I can touch someone and copy their powers and talents and use them for myself. I've already copied Tech's powers so don't be alarmed if I get disintegrated by something," I explained.

"Oh yeah? If you can shape-shift into a different form, then prove it," Daniel challenged.

I smirked and shifted into a perfect copy of Daniel. As the others laughed, Daniel bristled. To add insult to injury, I said in the duck's voice, "My name is Daniel and I am a douchebag. Do any of you feel a breeze?" I turned around, pretending to look for a breeze to reveal a human-looking ass under my tailfeathers.

Everyone dissolved into laughter as Daniel grumbled, "that doesn't look anything like me. You're despicable."

I shifted back into my own form, laughing with everyone except the duck who walked away fuming. Laughing together had broken the ice and I felt like we would all become good friends. Even the cranky duck.

"Okay, now that we know what our abilities are, how about we talk about what we did before the meteor hit the city," Tech suggested.

"Good idea, Tech. How about you and Ethan tell us what you did before," Ace said.

"Tech and I were Seniors at Acme Tech Institute. Actually, just before the meteor hit, we were presenting our senior thesis, but one of the professors got impatient and accidentally started the self destruct mechanism. When it exploded, it damn near killed us all in the process. We got kicked out because of it and that's when we saw the meteor falling from the sky. How about you Ace?" I asked.

"I was a martial arts movie stuntman that wanted to be something more then a stunt double but my former boss didn't see that and kept having me do the same old thing. I was on set when the meteor hit the city," Ace explained.

Lexi chimed in, "I was a student at the Acme University trying out for the cheerleading squad. I showed the judges my incredible gymnastic skills, impressing two of them but the third one, who was the head cheerleader, rejected me because she was jealous of my skills. When the meteor hit the city, the University was pretty much destroyed and a lot of my classmates were killed by the shockwave."

"God, I'm sorry to hear that," I said sympathetically before I looked at Daniel, who had cooled down a bit and come back to join us. I tried to make peace with him by including him in the conversation and asked, "How about you Daniel? What did you do?"

"I was a heroic life guard that was always on the lookout for danger and ready to help those in need," Daniel boasted dramatically.

"No you weren't, I saw you at the stadium. You were wearing a poolboy outfit. Nice try though," I said, resulting in Daniel sputtering. So much for making peace.

"All right fine, I was a poolboy. Go ahead and laugh but I wanted to be a life guard so I could help people. That's how great I am," Daniel said arrogantly.

 _"Is this guy fucking serious? He's got an ego the size of Lady Liberty,"_ I thought, looking at Daniel unamused.

"Anyway, how about you Rev? What's your story?" Tech asked.

"I used to work at a Quick Wrap Sandwich Shack as a delivery boy. I was making a delivery when the meteor hit the city," Rev explained quickly.

"Wow, that must have been rough. And what did you do Slam? When I saw you at the stadium, you were wearing wrestling gear," I commented.

Slam broke out into a long unintelligible explanation. In confusion, Tech and I looked the others for help.

"I don't mean to be offensive to Slam, but what did he say?" Tech asked, looking at anyone to translate what Slam said.

"He said that Ethan was right. He was a professional wrestler, and was actually in the middle of a match when the meteor hit the city," Lexi translated.

"Okay, now that we've all become acquainted, let's talk to Zadavia and figure out why she brought us all together," Ace said.

I nodded and went back to the communicator screen and said, "Zadavia? Are you still there?"

"I am, Ethan," Zadavia replied.

"Okay, now that we know each other, do you think you can tell us why you've gathered us together?" I asked.

"The city needs your help. Due to the meteor strike, people are taking advantage of the destruction, looting and causing chaos. The Military is doing a good job of keeping order but there may be other people that have been changed like all of you and could be using their powers for nefarious purposes. The Military will not be able to stop them, which is why I am forming a team of people with your abilities that will help to keep order in the city," Zadavia explained.

"So, you're basically asking us to become a team of vigilantes?" Ace asked skeptically, "No offense Zadavia, but how do we know that we can trust you? You've just come from out of nowhere and gathered us all in one place. How do we know that this isn't a trap?"

"I understand that you all are wary and you have every right to be. But if you accept this offer, then you will be able to help those in need and prevent the city from falling into chaos. If you don't want to accept my offer, then I'll completely understand. The choice is yours," Zadavia said.

I didn't know what to think. If we accept this offer, then we'll become a team of super heroes like The Avengers or The Justice League. We would be able to assist the first responders, like the Police and the Military that wouldn't be trained to deal with any "super villains" that might appear. We could really help a lot of people. But what if this was a trap like Ace said? I decided to agree to this offer and keep my reservations to myself for now. I looked around at the others, who seemed to have come to the same decision but, like me, were still somewhat wary about this.

"Okay everyone, have we made a decision? Are we going to accept this offer?" Ace asked us.

Everyone nodded and mumbled in agreement. I looked back at the phone and said, "Okay Zadavia, we've thought about this and we have decided to agree to your offer. But, if we are asked to do something we don't like in any way, then the deal's off. Is that fair?"

"Yes it is Ethan. Now that you all have accepted my offer, I want you to head downtown. I have modified a building for you to live in and use as a headquarters," Zadavia said.

 _"She built an H.Q. for us? Damn, she works fast,"_ I thought, amazed at the resources Zadavia must have and wondering what her part was in all of this.

The seven of us left the junkyard and headed downtown. As we walked, Daniel was chatting about how he was going to be famous for being a super hero. I thought about how drastically our lives had been changed by the meteor and that we were about to become some kind of super heroes who could protect the people of Acmetroplis from dangerous threats that the police and the Military wouldn't be able to handle. When we arrived at the address Zadavia had given us, my mouth dropped open in shock at where we were going to be living from now on.

The building was taller than any building in the city. It was as tall as the former world trade center if that was possible. I was looking up at a giant green scepter with a globe at the top of the building. The scientist and the technological genius in me was freaking out in excitement at what I was seeing, I wanted to study the engineering of the building to see if there was any kind of defense grid and/or weapons system.

"Holy shit...Tech, are you seeing this?" I asked in awe.

"I do. We need to study the layout of the building and see if we can learn anything about it," Tech said, looking giddy at the sight.

"Oh great, now the two egg heads have gone completely nerdy on us," I heard Daniel scoff but I was in too much of a good mood to be bothered by his insult, so I just ignored him.

As all seven of us entered the building, we saw on the directory that our living quarters were on the 134th floor. We gathered near the elevator and pushed the up button. The door opened immediately and we all walked in. After ascending to the 134th floor, we exited the elevator into a lavish living space, something like a huge living room. We wandered around to see what else was there.

The 134th floor had a meeting room, kitchen/dining room and bedrooms for all of us and best of all, is that there was a large built in lab where Tech and I could experiment, invent and produce gadgets for the team. Needless to say that Tech and I were pretty impressed at the facilities. All seven of us met back up in the meeting room so that we could talk.

"I still believe that Zadavia built all of this so quickly. She works fast," Ace commented, looking impressed.

"Yes she does. Now we just need to find a way to contact her and thank her for doing this for us," I said.

Suddenly, an alarm came from a console on the table, causing all seven of us to jump. I hesitantly pushed the button that had lit up and the hologram of a woman with blond hair and green eyes appeared, hovering above the console.

"Hello everyone," The woman greeted in a familiar voice.

"Zadavia? Is that you?" Ace asked her.

"Yes Ace, this is what I look like. What do you all think about your accommodations?" Zadavia asked us.

"It's pretty impressive, and the fact that there is a lab for Tech and me to work in is amazing," I said, smiling gratefully.

"It is no trouble at all. I knew that a lab would be crucial to our work and I'm glad you like it. If there is any equipment or supplies you need, you will have it right away," Zadavia said.

"In addition, there are suits waiting for all of you in the lab," Zadavia said.

"You've made suits for us?" Tech asked in anticipation.

"Yes I did. The suits have nano-robots inside the fabric so that they will adapt to your powers and repair themselves if they get damaged in any way," Zadavia explained.

Excited, we all went to the lab and found the suits, along with gloves, belts and boots, arranged on a large table. The suits were black with detail in a single accent color, matching the color of an upside-down triangle on the chest. The different colors were red, pink, yellow, green, orange, purple, and silver.

After putting on the suits, gloves, belts, and boots, and meeting back around the table, we could see that our skin and fur tone had changed to match the color of our suit, I concluded that this was to protect our identities to prevent anyone from going after those we love to get to us.

"Feels nice. Not too tight and not too loose," I mumbled to myself, examining my suit that had the silver color on it and I looked at everyone else.

Ace was wearing the yellow suit and he was moving his shoulders around to see how the suit felt and he nodded, looking satisfied.

Lexi was wearing the pink suit, doing a few gymnastic moves to see what moving inside the suits was like. She gave us a thumbs up to let us know that there was enough space to move around quickly.

Tech was in the green suit, studying it before he walked over to the table to examine it even more.

Slam was in the purple suit, throwing a few punches before speaking in that gibberish language but I could tell from his expression that he was happy.

Rev was zooming around while he was wearing the red suit, ranting quickly in excitement. I shuddered to think what would happen if Rev ever got his hands on any coffee and I swore to keep the coffee locked up so Rev couldn't get at it.

Finally, Daniel was wearing the orange suit, admiring himself in a mirror and talking about how good he looked and how he would make the ladies swoon. I rolled my eyes at his obnoxiousness, but still smiled at how happy he appeared.

All seven of us walked back to the meeting room where the hologram of Zadavia was still on.

"I see you are all wearing the suits. How are they?" Zadavia asked us.

"They're perfect Zadavia. We have the suits and we have a headquarters. Now all we need is a team name," Ace said.

We tried to figure out a name that the people of this city could use to refer to us. Tech, Lexi, Slam, Daniel, Rev, Ace, and I each threw out a suggestion or two, but none of them was quite right. Daniel suggested a few grandiose names but most of them sounded ridiculous. Daniel was really insisting on the name Heroes of Justice, but the rest of us kept shooting it down because of how stupid it sounded. We needed criminals to take us seriously, not to make them laugh at us. Just when I thought we would never come up with a name, Zadavia spoke up.

"I can see that you all are having difficulty coming up with a team name. How about The Loonatics? It fits does it not?" She suggested to us.

I put my hand on my chin and realized just how simple and easy it was for people to remember and I liked the way it sounded out loud. I decided that The Loonatics would be our team name.

"The Loonatics...it's perfect, I like it. How about you Ace?" I asked him.

"I like it too. Okay everyone, does that name sound alright?" He asked and got noises of agreements before he looked a Zadavia and said, "It's official, we are The Loonatics."

"Excellent, and since a team needs a leader, I am nominating you, Ace Bunny. Good luck Loonatics. Zadavia out," She said and the hologram disappeared, leaving us alone.

"What! Why does he get to be the leader when it should be me?!" Daniel exclaimed incredulously.

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe it's because you're an egotistical asshole for one. Think about that," I remarked sarcastically.

"You're despicable," Daniel retorted, looking crestfallen.

I walked over to the window and looked outside, seeing wrecked buildings, knowing that this was the start of a new beginning for not only The Loonatics, but also for the Californian city of Acmetropolis.


	3. Loonatics on ice

Loonatics Tower, Acmetropolis, California, June 10, 2772.

It had been three months since we had become The Loonatics and the first few days were rough because the public was afraid of us and our new powers. To the police, we appeared dangerous due to our new powers, so to earn their trust, we provided humanitarian aid for the public and helped the police put away anyone trying to take advantage of the chaos. We saved people that were still trapped in rubble and helped the police and the Military regain order, and we also assisted in the reconstruction of buildings that were badly affected by the shockwave. With the combined efforts of everyone and our powers, the city was quickly repaired and we were thanked by the Mayor, the Governor, and the public for our efforts. After the initial crisis was under control, the Mayor and the Governor made us a deal-we would let the police deal with the small time criminals and they would let us handle any major threats from others who had developed powers like ours but chose to use them for crime. The seven of us agreed to the deal and for the past three months, we had handled some seriously dangerous threats to the city and as a result, people now saw us as heroes.

Even though it had been a pretty brutal heat wave these past few weeks, today it had suddenly gotten pretty chilly. I was sitting in a chair in the living room, typing on my holographic wrist computer while everyone else was doing their own thing. Ace was sitting in a lotus position on a floating disk, meditating with his eyes closed. Lexi was out jogging to keep herself in shape. Slam was also outside but I didn't know where he had gone. Daniel, otherwise known as 'Duck', was admiring himself in the mirror with a blue blanket tied around his neck to look like a cape. Rev had just come in carrying a pizza and put it down on the table. Tech instantly helped himself to a slice and took a huge bite.

"Brr! Jesus, that's cold! Where'd the Hell did you get it? Iceland?" Tech asked sarcastically.

"Actually no. I just picked it up from the nearby pizza joint, and I must say it's abnormally cold outside for this time of year, but if you really like the pizza they have in Iceland, I could go and get some and be back in 4.2 seconds but of course, that's just an estimation because you really don't know about traffic-" Rev rambled on before Tech shoved the pizza slice into his beak to get him to stop.

"That was one of those questions that didn't require an answer," Tech remarked while he was poking at the rest of the pizza in the box, then he looked at Ace and he held up another piece, prompting, "Hey Ace."

Then Ace opened his eyes and smirked."On it, Tech," He said and he shot lasers beams at the pizza, heating it up and making it edible again.

"Extra crispy. Pizza, Duck?" Tech offered to the mallard, who was still admiring himself in the mirror.

"Are you fucking kidding? I've already had my protein shake. It's vitally important to maintain a superhero physique, because you can't be flabby when you're...The Duck-inator," Daniel said dramatically, and I let out a slight groan of irritation.

"Yesterday, you were calling yourself 'Super Duper Duck'," Ace pointed out.

"Yeah, it wasn't quite rolling off the tongue. Besides, I need a name that will fit on the costume," Daniel said, shrugging.

"How about...Duck," I offered, causing Tech and Ace to chuckle.

"Very funny, asshole," Daniel grumbled sarcastically.

"Well, if you don't stop coming up with a name for yourself every five seconds, I'll name you "Mud" and see how you'll like that," I remarked dryly.

As Daniel and I glared at each other, the elevator doors opened and Lexi walked inside with headphones on, bobbing her head to the music.

"Hey Tech, did you order more then one pie?" Lexi asked, as she was taking her headphones off.

"No, why?" Tech asked as he took a bite of his slice.

"Cause Slam is in the house," Lexi stated, gesturing to her glowing ears. Tech and I groaned, knowing what was going to happen next.

Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with Slam at all. It's just that he eats so Goddamn much that there's barely anything left for the rest of us to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The elevator doors opened and a frozen Slam stumbled in shivering, causing all six of us to stare at him in bewilderment.

"That's not good," I couldn't help but comment, feeling shocked that the temperature had dropped that much so quickly.

Suddenly, we all heard Zadavia's alarm and we turned to see her holographic figure appearing before us in the center of the living room.

"Loonatics, we have a problem," She announced urgently.

"You got that right Zadavia," Ace said, walking over to the fogged up window and wiped a circle and peered outside, continuing, "I'd say that we have a serious problem."

I walked over to the window as well and could see that the entire city was becoming covered in ice. This was really bad. If we don't find out what's causing this, then things were not going to end well. The seven of us went to the meeting table and sat in our respective seats and looked at Zadavia for answers.

"So, what's up Zadavia? Certainly not the temperature," Ace commented. On the holo-screen, there were images of a large iceberg that had crashed into the docks.

"So far, nobody can figure out where this iceberg came from. I don't need to tell you all what will happen if the temperature keeps dropping," Zadavia informed us.

"I knew it, we're going to lose cable again," Daniel complained to Lexi, prompting me to Gibbs-slap him in the back of the head for his stupidity.

"Ow! You asshole! What the Hell was that for?!" Daniel cried out, glaring at me and rubbing the back of his head in pain.

"You fucking dumbass! I think we have more important things to worry about then losing cable television," I said sternly, glaring back.

"Ethan is right. If this isn't stopped, then the city could be starting a new ice-age," Zadavia agreed, giving me an appreciative nod.

"Oh great, those winter sweaters always make me look chubbo," Lexi groaned in annoyance.

"When the meteor hit the city, your super powers weren't the only after effect. This iceberg could be related," Zadavia said.

"Eh, I think we can handle one iceberg," Ace assured with a confident grin.

"Acmetropolis is counting on you all to take care of this, Zadavia out," She said and her holographic image disappeared.

"When she goes out, where does she go? The movies?" Lexi asked.

"Maybe she goes out to monitor the city for dangerous threats. It's what I would do," I suggested.

"Anyways. Tech, Ethan, we'll need some toys to melt this ice cube," Ace said. Tech and I sighed in irritation at hearing Ace call our inventions "toys."

"For the love of God. Excuse us Chief, they're not "toys," they're precision hand-crafted alloy instruments," Tech informed him testily.

"We'll take those too. But first, the toys," Ace said, not really listening.

"He just said they're...you know what, forget it. Follow us, Tech and I have the perfect thing to melt that iceberg," I said, and we all stood up and headed to the lab.

* * *

Inside the lab, Tech and I handed each of them a small circular disk. Ace and the others examined the disks in confusion.

"Introducing The Retro Fire Master Blasters. All you need to do is to hold them in the palm of your hand and squeeze twice. Go ahead, try them out," I said proudly.

Rev squeezed the disk twice and it turned into a massive arm cannon.

"Cool!" Rev exclaimed excitedly, aiming down the cannon's sights.

Slam was fiddling with his disk when his hand slipped. He fumbled for the disk as it fell to the ground and he accidentally stepped on it, making the cannon form on his foot. Slam looked up at us in a panic.

"Uh oh," Slam grunted as the cannon started firing randomly and he was sent flying all over the room screaming and bouncing off the walls like a ping pong ball.

"Oh shit! Get down!" I yelled in panic, and Tech and I dove out of the way and took cover next to the desk.

"Uncurl your toes! Uncurl your toes!" Tech shouted frantically.

Slam did so and he stopped flying around and fell to the floor as the cannon turned back into its circular disk form and dropped to the ground.

 _"Jesus, that was close,"_ I thought, getting up and brushing myself off.

"So, what do you all think?" Tech asked everyone as he stood up.

"You gotta love the toys," Lexi said gleefully.

"Time to crush some ice, let's jet," Ace agreed and we all raced to put on our jet packs. Rev could fly without a jet pack, so he headed out immediately while we geared up. We headed out to the iceberg and when we caught up with Rev, he started talking to Tech and me.

"Holy Hell, would you look at that thing?! It's gotta be the biggest iceberg I've ever seen and I've seen some doozies, do you think that we should have put more juice in the blasters? Not that I doubt your expertise or anything but that is one giant-" Rev said, not paying any attention and about to crash into the iceberg when he was cut off by Ace.

"Hey Rev! Watch where you're talking!" Ace alerted him. I saw Rev had a look of panic on his face and he frantically flew upwards just in time to prevent himself from crashing into the iceberg. He quickly flew back and hovered beside us.

"Okay, what wise guy moved Mt. Everest?" Tech asked humorously and I didn't blame him for asking that. The iceberg did look like Mt. Everest.

"Alright, snow cones for everyone," Ace said. We all fanned out into a circle before he continued, "Set your blasters to thaw."

We activated our disks, forming them into large cannons and fired at the iceberg with constant beams of heat.

After a minute, I exclaimed in disbelief, "What the Hell?! Why are they not working?! Hey Ace! This isn't working! We need to try something else!"

"Son of a bitch, he's right. Okay! Cease fire! Cease fire!" Ace ordered, and we shut our weapons down.

"I don't get it Ethan, how the Hell could our Retro Fire Master Blasters not work?" Tech asked me as our cannons reverted into small disks.

"They just need a few adjustments Tech. Not every invention starts out successful," I reassured him before I looked at Ace and asked, " So what do we do now Ace? The blasters don't work,"

"Not to worry Ethan, there's always plan B," Ace said as we were flying down to the dock. We landed and Ace looked up at the iceberg before looking at Slam.

"You're on Slam buddy," Ace told him.

Slam spun into a miniature tornado and started zooming around the iceberg, which quickly began to melt.

"Holy Hell. Slam's certainly fired up today," I commented in slight disbelief.

"I know, right? What did this guy have for breakfast?" Ace agreed, while the ice melted and the temperature began to rise.

As it began to get warmer, the ice encasing the people around us began to melt, setting them free from their icy prison. One man began cheering as he was freed, "All right Loonatics! You rock!"

"Slam, you are nothing but a glorified zamboni! Chipping ice isn't a super power, quacking is a super power. Observe." Daniel said arrogantly before he teleported out of sight, only to instantly appear inside the ice.

"You can stop observing now," Daniel grunted weakly.

"Ha! Serves you right, you dumbass!" I exclaimed, laughing at his predicament.

Once the ice was completely melted, Daniel was freed from the ice and the temperature had risen to 78 degrees.

"Good guys: one, Mother Nature: nothing," Ace declared, smiling victoriously.

Slam was panting hard, trying to regain his breath after working hard to melt the iceberg. Just when I thought things were over, Lexi's ears started glowing.

"Hold on Ace. Mother Nature may be done, but I'm picking something up," Lexi informed us.

"Perhaps a high pitched dog whistle?" Daniel asked sarcastically.

"You smartass. If it was a dog whistle, Tech would've heard it," I said, as the remains of the iceberg started to hiss and give off steam before breaking apart. We all moved a safe distance away down the dock as the falling ice landed into the water, causing large forceful waves to splash up near us. When the steam cleared up, we saw an impressive silhouette of a ship and we gasped in astonishment at the amazing sight. Suddenly, a mechanical door opened up on the ship's hull and honest-to-God robots that looked like Vikings came jumping out and landing all around us.

"Boy, are you guys lost," Ace said sarcastically before another robot Viking with a different coloring then the others landed right in front of us. Judging by how different this one looked, I guessed that this was the leader.

"What's up Doc?" Ace inquired to the robot with blue and white coloring.

"I am Gunnar," The robot with white armor declared himself.

"Gunnar what? Gunnar go to a Viking convention at the Civic center?" Ace quipped.

Ace always did this. Whenever we came across a threat, he would always taunt the enemy to piss them off so that it would be easy to take them down. The only time Ace didn't use humor was when we were dealing with a serious threat that could actually kill us.

"No. We are here to take over your world," Gunnar growled.

"You know, you frosted flakes might as well go back to where you came from, 'cause this is a 'no invasion' zone," Ace quipped again.

"We will conquer your world by any means necessary!" Gunnar exclaimed.

"No you won't," Ace told him.

"Yes we will," Gunnar argued back.

"No you won't," Ace said back.

"Yes we will!" Gunnar thundered in frustration.

Then a mischievous look crossed Ace's face and he said, " Yes you will."

"No we won't conquer your world and that's final!" Gunnar declared.

"Have it your way," Ace said, shrugging.

I knew that if Ace's ancestor Bugs Bunny were here to see this, he would be proud.

"Ohhh, I'll enjoy killing you slowly, rabbit!" Gunnar threatened in a menacing tone before raising his sword and swinging it down at Ace to cleave him in half. Ace jumped out the way.

"Oh yeah, like that's ever gonna happen," Ace stated sarcastically, pulling out his sword and attacking Gunnar. After several seconds of a dramatic performance of swordsmanship, Ace jumped over Gunnar with an acrobatic flip and landed in front of us.

"I can keep this up all day," Ace stated to Gunnar. One thing about Ace is that during combat, if you gave him the chance, he would most definitely be able to keep up against you all day.

"Taste my cold steel," Gunnar declared and pushed a button on his sword, which began to emit a white electric light.

"Time to chill out, bunny!" Gunnar roared and a beam of light flew toward us from the tip of the glowing sword.

"I don't think so!" Ace exclaimed defiantly and fired his laser eyes at the beam. There was an explosion of yellow light where laser beams met sword glow, and Ace and Gunnar struggled to overpower each other as they came closer together.

"Hammers of Frost!" Two Vikings shouted as their war-hammers began glowing.

The two Vikings slammed their hammers on the ground, and ice spread out along the ground and ran under Ace's feet. As Ace slid back toward us, we caught him and held him up as he continued to fire his lasers against the Viking sword's light.

"Their weapons seem to be charged with a sub-zero hydrothermal liquid solidification energy, that when fired can freeze-" I started to explain but was cut off by Ace.

"Yeah, I got that part figured out," Ace grunted out.

Just when things couldn't get any worse, the rest of the Vikings fired freezing energy at us from their weapons..

We all yelled in alarm as the ice imprisoned us. As for me, everything went black when the ice fully covered us.

* * *

Next thing I knew, Slam had destroyed the ice and we were all shivering and trying to warm ourselves up.

"N-N-Nice work there Slam," Ace praised him through chattering teeth.

"H-H-Holy s-s-shit, that's c-cold," I said weakly as I shifted my body into the form of an anthro timber wolf covered in heavy winter clothes to warm myself up even faster.

"Are you going to be okay Ethan?" Tech asked me in concern.

"Yeah, I'll be fine Tech. I'm warming up already," I said and shifted back to my human form once my body temperature was back to normal.

"I would've busted you all out if you've just gave me the time to think," Daniel complained.

"We had seconds, not hours Duck," Ace remarked before walking away.

"I liked you better as a snow bunny," Daniel grumbled bitterly.

"He's right Duck. By the time you came up with a way to get us out, we would've been dead. Except for Tech and me, since he has the power to regenerate from anything harmful, and I copied his ability to heal up from any form of damage or death," I explained.

As we began walking, I saw how frozen the city had become. Looking at Ace, I saw that he was looking around too.

"I love what they've done with the place," Ace commented.

"Snow drifts are very trendy this year," Lexi pointed out before we heard a familiar alarm coming from a phone booth.

"Sound's like Zadavia's ring," Ace said.

All seven of us arrived at the phone booth and Lexi pushed the on switch and said, "Hello?"

A holographic screen that had Zadavia's face on it popped up and she commented, "I guess you all know by now that these are no ordinary Vikings."

"Yeah, they didn't even sound Scandinavian," Ace agreed.

"I believe the iceberg slipped in through one of the inter-dimensional portals that opened up after the meteor hit. These mutant techno Vikings must have been frozen inside during an ice storm in their own dimension, but now that they're here in Acmetropolis and released..." Zadavia trailed off and my eyes widened in realization.

"Then they'll freeze and paralyze the entire world so that it will be easier to take over. Oh God help us," I finished.

"Precisely, but right now you all have bigger problems," Zadavia said, and before we could ask her what kind of problems, all seven of us were sent flying onto our backs when some kind of large ice ball struck the phone booth, completely destroying it.

 _"Argh...is there a day where we aren't knocked onto our asses?"_ I thought in pain and picked myself up again.

"I didn't get that last part. What are the bigger problems?" Daniel asked, then I saw the Viking ship's head firing another ice ball at us.

"Fucking Hell! Incoming!" I shouted in panic and we all scattered, except for Daniel, who simply teleported out of the way.

"If their trail leads into the city, what are they doing on their boat?" Lexi questioned as we stared at the three Vikings that were manning the dragon head ice-cannon.

"Maybe they didn't want to miss the dinner show, 'Gunnar on ice'. Let's jet," Ace declared.

"Right. Ready team? 1,2,3," Daniel said, but when he tried to start up the engines of the jet pack, it just simply coughed out smoke.

"Ah, son of a bitch, the ice must have short-circuited the jet pack's systems. Luckily, Tech and I have a back up plan. Tech, you want to do the honors?" I asked him with a knowing look.

"I thought you'd never ask Ethan," Tech said with a grin and he pulled out a remote control from one of the small pouches on his belt and pushed a button. Almost instantly, seven black motorcycles to sped up to us and screeched to a halt.

"Presenting the Zoomatrix. How about it Ace?" Tech said.

"Let's show these Vikings how to fly," Ace said as he got on one of the bikes, put his motorcycle helmet and drove to the ship, followed by the rest of us.

The motorcycles transformed into hover bikes and we flew over to the ship where the Vikings spotted us and started shooting ice balls at us.

"Ha, you bastards think you can shoot me down? I once designed and test piloted Mach 1 fighter jets for the U.S. Air Force," I taunted, while I performed evasive maneuvers.

Daniel was almost shot down, but Lexi and I shot the ice ball and Daniel flew at us.

"Daredevil Duck, thanks you," Daniel said with a salute before driving away.

"Oh for fuck sakes! Pick a damn name already! God, he's starting to aggravate me!" I yelled in irritation, feeling like I wanted to strangle him.

"I agree, that is very annoying," Lexi sympathized with me before we separated and kept dodging ice balls.

I had formed my hands into mallets and I was smashing any ice balls that got too close to me. I passed Slam, who was still punching ice balls that were being shot at him and met up with Ace.

"How long are we going to let them use us for target practice?" Lexi asked once she was right beside us.

"Until they run out of spit wads, which should be right about...now," Ace said and just as he finished, the ship's head stopped firing ice balls at us.

"Let the fun begin!" Ace said excitedly.

"Aye Aye, Skipper," Lexi said with a salute.

"Loonatics unite!" Ace ordered, and we all flew away from the ship and went through a blanket of fog. As we flew, our motorcycles connected and transformed into a boat and we came out of the fog.

"Tech, Ethan, you've outdone yourselves," Ace praised us.

"You can say it, we're geniuses," Tech and I said together.

"Launch the torpedo," Ace ordered.

Tech pushed a button and a torpedo flew toward the ship.

"So long assholes!" Daniel taunted at the ship.

Just when it looked like the torpedo was going to hit, the ship literally rose up and started flying away.

"Well, that's unexpected," I commented, feeling shocked and annoyed that those big bastards had a ship that can fly.

Slam grunted to Ace and our leader said, "Yeah Slam, didn't see that one coming. Flying Vikings?"

"You know, I could say that I have officially seen everything but I get the feeling I haven't. And besides, they won't be flying for long," I said.

I pushed a button and wings slid out from the sides of the boat and we took off into the air and flew above the Viking ship.

"Ethan, take them out," Ace told me and I obliged.

"Engaging Ionic de-stabilizing gravity disks," I said and pushed the button, only to be confused when nothing happened.

"What the Hell? The modulators are not responding. Why is it...ah fuck! I can see what the problem is," I said in irritation, seeing ice covering the mechanisms.

"What is it?" Ace asked me.

"The launching mechanism has been completely frozen over. Somebody is going to need to do this by hand," I explained. I looked over to Slam and said, " Slam, I'm going to need your help for this one."

Slam nodded and went over to the explosives, grabbed them and ripped them out of the launching mechanism, then he headed over to the edge of the boat before dropping the explosives down onto the Viking ship, which exploded and plummeted into the water. Tech flew us down and we got onto the ship to see if there were any Vikings left.

"Ethan, Tech, with their ship down, do you think the big freeze is over?" Ace asked us as we were examining one of the Vikings with our scanners.

"Fascinating. It seems that all of their power is coming from the horns on their helmets," I informed Tech.

"Anyone else on board Rev?" Ace asked him.

"All clear starboard, bow, and no spit wads," Rev said as he zoomed around the ship and came back shaking his head.

"So where did they all go?" Lexi asked in confusion.

"Oh Hell's bells. I know what this is." I said, realizing what had just happened.

"What is it?" Tech asked me.

"All of this, this whole game of Battleship, it was all just a distraction so that Gunnar and the other Vikings could head to their real target without any resistance," I explained.

"You're right Ethan. Hey Rev, can you get a reading on these Nordic nut-jobs?" Ace asked him.

Rev nodded and his eyes started glowing before a holographic map of the city projected from the upside down triangle on his suit. The image zoomed in to show us Gunnar and a few Vikings heading to the city's power grid.

"They're heading for the city's power grid," Lexi said.

"So this is what Zadavia was trying to tell us," Ace said.

"Not to alarm anybody, but if they freeze the city's power core..." Tech started uneasily.

"Then basically, the entire city will become a frozen wasteland. Yeah, screwed doesn't even begin to describe on what will happen if we don't stop them," I finished gravely.

"Then let's make sure that we do stop them. Let's jet," Ace said, and we headed out to the power grid.

* * *

We arrived at the city's power core to see that the Vikings had almost completely frozen the core and I knew that we needed to stop them now as we entered the building to find them. God knows how many people could die in this city if they succeeded.

"Eh, what's up Horn Heads?" Ace asked as we came across them. The Vikings stopped what they were doing and turned around to look at us.

"Freeze them!" Gunnar shouted, and the Vikings charged at us as a free for all broke out.

"You picked the wrong planet to invade, Pally," Ace said as he jumped out of the way to prevent himself from being gutted by a sword.

I didn't know how long Tech and I were fighting, but we were backing up when we bumped into someone and we looked to see that it was Ace.

"Listen fellas, we need to turn the tables. Make things hot," Ace told us.

"We'll reprogram them, just keep them busy," Tech said, and we all jumped out of the way to avoid being butchered.

Ace took a Viking's head clean off with a powerful kick and I grabbed it in midair. Tech and I ran over to a console, took out our tool kits and started working on the head, but I still kept my senses sharp just in case.

"Tech, Ethan, in position. Please tell me you two are done?" Ace asked us several seconds later with a slight tone of panic in his voice.

"You can't rush brilliance," Tech and I said while we were in the middle of rewiring something.

"No, but you can give it a swift boot in the ass!" Ace said.

"Just keep them busy for a little longer, we're almost done!" I said loudly.

Finally, we finished and plugged the helmet into the console.

"Got it, Ace!" Tech shouted in victory.

We lifted the helmet, feeling proud, until we saw a current of electricity heading straight to us and we looked at each other with a look of dread on our faces.

 _"Oh crap, not again,"_ I thought, bracing myself for the world of pain that was coming.

Tech and I were hit by the current, causing us to scream out in agony at the amount of voltage running through our bodies. I felt my body melt instinctively to escape the current and the helmet crashed down on top of me. I also heard Tech groaning beside me.

"We did it! It worked!" I heard Ace exclaiming victoriously.

"The energy from the Vikings has recharged the power core," Lexi said.

"Aw Tech, Ethan, I was just about to let them have it," Daniel complained.

 _"Seriously?! Does this asshole really think that we enjoy playing living conductors?!"_ I thought incredulously.

"Ugh...fuck. Talk about taking one for the team," Tech groaned in pain.

Suddenly, the helmet was lifted away from us and Daniel peered down at us.

"Tech? Ethan?" Daniel asked in confusion.

We didn't say anything, but just groaned in response.

* * *

Loonatics Tower, Acmetropolis, California, June 11, 2772.

Ace was meditating again, Lexi was lounging on a chair, Daniel was still figuring out a name, and lastly, Tech and I were cutting up slices of pizza with our new gizmo. Right on cue, Slam came running into the room, saw the pizza, and charged at it with a look of hunger on his face, only to be stopped when Tech threw our new invention at Slam and it clasped his mouth shut.

"No you don't Slam," I said, wagging my finger teasingly, resulting in him growling at us.

Then, all of a sudden, Zadavia's hologram appeared.

"Loonatics, I just had to personally say to each and every one of you job well done. The ice age is averted, the mutant techno Vikings are destroyed and the city of Acmetropolis is safe. Thanks to you Ace, Rev, Lexi, Slam, Ethan, Tech. Good work team, Zadavia out," She praised us before her image disappeared, only she forgot one member.

"That's it?! How the Hell could she forget me?! I was standing right here!" Daniel exclaimed in outrage.

"Don't worry Danny, You were fantastic," Lexi tried to cheer him up.

"Oh yeah, heroic," Ace said sarcastically.

Storming over to the table, Daniel pressed the button and Zadavia appeared again.

"Yes?" Zadavia asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Hello, Ms. Zadavia? Duck here. I was wondering, did you forget something?" Daniel asked.

"Yes, I suppose I did. No more memos about changing your name. Danger Duck is self-sufficient and easy to remember. Request denied," Zadavia said sternly before her image disappeared.

 _"Glad to know that I am not the only one sick of him constantly trying to change his name,"_ I thought wryly.

Daniel kept staring at the table, looking completely crestfallen when Ace walked over and put his hand on Daniel's shoulder.

"Well, look on the bright side, at least it's better then what she used to call you," Ace told him.

"Fine. Danger Duck, I can live with that," Daniel reluctantly agreed.

"Good, 'cause we like it too," Ace said.

I nodded and walked back over to the chair and sat back down before typing on my wrist computer, feeling happy that we had saved the city again.


	4. Attack of the fuzzballs

Loonatics Tower, Acmetropolis, California, July 5, 2772.

Ace and I were in the training room, sparring against not only the hover disks that Tech and I developed, but also sparring against each other while Tech was working on a malfunctioning circuit that was connected to the holographic program. At the same time, Rev was working on the computer that kept the simulation going.

A month after we had formed The Loonatics, I approached Ace and asked him to teach me some martial arts techniques so that I would be prepared if something were to happen to my powers. Ace agreed and for the past month, he had trained me until I became good at hand to hand combat, but I still had years of training to do if I wanted to be at Ace's level.

As Ace swung his sword at me, I formed my right arm into a blade to block the strike, kicked him away, then I melted and flowed quickly out of the path of laser fire and reformed myself in time to destroy the hover disk that was taking pot shots at me.

"Not bad Ethan. I have to say that you are becoming pretty good," Ace said while he was cleaving a hover disk in half.

"Yeah? Well, I learned from the best, Ace," I replied as I jumped out of the way of laser fire.

I backed away from the hover disks that were approaching me until Ace and I were back to back.

"Truce?" Ace asked me.

"Truce, let's do this!" I declared in anticipation and in an impressive display of agility, we destroyed all of the hover disks and gave each other a fist bump before I looked at Rev with a nod and he shut off the simulation.

"Whoo, that was fun," I said breathlessly, my bladed arm shifting back to normal. The doors opened up and I turned around to see Lexi walking in with a look of excitement on her face, holding something in her hands.

"Hey guys, look what I got," She said gleefully and held it out so Ace and I could see it better.

"In a sec Lex," Ace said, kicking one of the destroyed disks to smash up a disk we missed. He turned around and the two of us walked over to see what she was holding.

The creature she was holding looked like a very hairy pink tribble with big eyes, a mouth, and a rat tail. I was intrigued by what I was seeing and I moved closer to examine it better.

"Interesting. Where did you get this little fella, Lex?" I asked in curiosity.

"I got her...hold on Ethan," Lexi said, dodging away as Slam went flying past her and crashed into the massive laser gun that was in the room. It began to rotate slowly.

"Whoa Slam! No eating my pet," Lexi admonished.

As Slam slid down, he hit the control panel and the gun started spinning wildly and firing randomly. My eyes widened in horror when I saw the back of the gun was approaching Tech's head, who was completely oblivious to it and turning to look at Slam sternly.

"Watch it Slam! I'm trying to-" Tech started to warn, but was cut off when the back of the gun clocked him in the head, sending him crashing against the wall upside down and I let out a cry of alarm when I saw the laser approaching Tech's tail.

"Tech! Look out!" I quickly ran over and shoved him out of the way, only for the laser to hit me. I screamed in agony and it seemed a very long time before the laser gun was unplugged and I fell to the ground in a groaning pile of ashes.

"Ethan! Holy shit! Are you okay?!" Tech cried out in horror.

"Yep...doing just fine over here," I grunted out in pain as I reformed and I clutched my head.

 _"Motherfucker! That hurt like Hell!"_ I thought in agony.

"Anyways, like Ethan said, what is that? You bought a new cotton tail?" Ace asked.

"No smartass, it's a Fuzz-z. Oh come on, bio-pets are only the coolest trend to ever hit Acmetropolis," Lexi said.

"Wait, Fuzz-z? Isn't that one of those creatures that has been all over the news lately for the past month?" I questioned, brushing off any soot that was still on me.

"Yes it is Ethan," Lexi replied.

"Huh, so what do you hit it with?" Ace asked in confusion.

"You don't hit it, you love it. She'll be whatever you want her to be; a glove, a choker, a cuddle walker," Lexi explained, The Fuzz-z transformed into the items as she said them. I stared at her in astonishment.

"Fascinating," I commented, the scientist in me wanting to scan this creature to discover what it's genetic makeup is like. Lexi saw me staring at her Fuzz-z and she started glaring at me.

"Oh no you don't Ethan. You stay the Hell away from her," Lexi warned me, causing me to snap out of it and look at her in confusion.

"What? What the fuck did I do?" I asked, feeling completely clueless.

"You had that look in your eyes. You were thinking about dissecting her, weren't you?" Lexi demanded.

"What?! God no! I just wanted to scan her to see what her genetic makeup is like. I'm not going to dissect her. I'm not some sadistic bastard," I defended myself, feeling repulsed.

Then Daniel walked in and he saw The Fuzz-z.

"Hold it right there, sister!" Daniel exclaimed and he walked over and snatched The Fuzz-z out of Lexi's hand and held it away from Lexi before continuing, " how did you get a hold of one of these anyways? My Fuzz-z's been on back order for weeks. Are you sure that this isn't supposed to be mine?"

Slam crept up and tried to eat the pink Fuzz-z, but Daniel moved the bio-pet away from him and Lexi snatched it back.

"Back off Duck! Zozo is mine," Lexi said, holding the Fuzz-z protectively.

"Zozo?" Daniel asked, snickering.

"Hey! If that's the name she picked for her Fuzz-z, then who are we to judge," I defended, causing Lexi to nod at me an appreciation.

Just then, a viewscreen came down from the ceiling and Zadavia's holographic face appeared.

"You're not going to believe this one Loonatics. But there's a situation in South Acmetropolis that requires your special attention. A residential zone in the fourth quadrant seems to have a giant spider problem," She informed us, showing a picture of an ugly looking mutant spider chasing a family down a street. I shivered in disgust.

"Ugh, isn't that the most ugliest fucking thing you have ever seen in your life," I remarked humorously.

"I know. Didn't they just spray for giant spiders last week?" Ace quipped.

"This family barely escaped with their lives," Zadavia said.

"Species? Origins?" Tech questioned.

"Unknown and Unknown," Zadavia answered.

"Well that doesn't make things any easier, but what the Hell's the point in life if there is no challenge?" I remarked.

"Forget where it came from, where's it going? It's not coming here, is it?" Daniel asked, looking uneasy.

"The idea was for you to go there, Danger Duck," Zadavia emphasized, causing Daniel to gulp.

"Um, must we?" Daniel squeaked out, not looking forward to this.

"I'll transfer coordinates and transit, Zadavia out," She said before the screen shut off.

"She gets to go out and we get to battle giant mutated spiders. Nice," Ace said.

"Well, you know they say, a hero's work is never done," I quipped.

"I know, let's jet!" Ace said and all seven of us headed to the hanger.

* * *

After putting on our jet packs (that Tech and I fixed up), Tech, Daniel, Slam, and Rev flew outside and Ace and I were about to take off with Lexi when we saw her bio-pet on her wrist.

"Eh, maybe you should lose the wristband Lex," Ace suggested.

"I don't want to leave her here by herself. She could be our mascot," Lexi said.

"Look Lex, I get that you don't want to leave Zozo alone, but don't you think that it would be safer for her if she stayed here? I'm sure you don't want her to get hurt during the fighting," I told her.

"I don't know," Lexi said uncertainly.

"Hey, don't worry. We'll be back before Zozo even knows it," I reassured her before Ace and I took off after the others and Lexi managed to catch up a few seconds later.

When the three of us caught up with the others, we all kept a look out for the mutant spider.

"Okay, if I were a giant fucking mutated spider wreaking havoc on the public, where would I be?" I mumbled, looking around for anything that had more then two or four legs.

"Alright, according to Zadavia's readings, we should be able to spot the itsy bitsy spider right about-" Ace started to say, but he was cut off when the very thing we were looking for crashed it's way out of the building that we were approaching, forcing all seven of us to back up.

"-now," Ace finished as the monster landed hard onto the street.

"Oh fuck me! Look at that thing! It has three, no, five legs!" Daniel exclaimed in disbelief before he was smacked away screaming.

"Uh, make that six legs!" Ace clarified in alarm, while the monster was roaring at us.

"Spiders have eight legs, you idiots," I yelled.

Slam landed onto the street and spun over to one of the spider's legs and he tried to knock the spider down to the ground by grabbing and pulling at it. The monster lifted up the leg with Slam clinging to it and stomped Slam back down into the pavement, leaving him lying in a crater, groaning.

Just when the monster was about to crush Slam by stomping on him again, Rev dived over and saved Slam from certain death by grabbing him and flying away. The monster smashed it's foot where Slam used to be, causing a large crack in the pavement to spread to the nearby bridge. The monster started running away. People were getting out of their cars and running away screaming, trying to get out of the way.

"Slight pothole problemo," Ace informed us.

"God, can't we just take the day off," Lexi complained.

"Heroes don't get the day off. It's rescuing time. Slam, let's give our friend a little help, what do you say?" Ace said, and Slam rocketed to the monster and grabbed a leg, pushing the monster forcefully onto the bridge as Rev flew around in circles, taunting the monster to keep it distracted. I flew over to Tech and we nodded to each other.

"We need to contain this monster, now," Tech said to me as his hands started glowing green.

"I have an idea. Clear the bridge Ace! Then remove all four supports of each column!" I instructed, just as Tech was removing one of the support holds.

"You got it Ethan!" Ace replied and he flew over to another column and melted the support hold with his laser eyes.

I flew over to the cables and nodded at Lexi, then she used her brain blast on the cables on one side while I shifted my arms into blades and cut the cables on the other side.

"Now, let's lock em up," Ace said.

All seven of us grabbed the top of the bridge and pushed it downwards hard while using our jet packs to accelerate, causing the bridge to fall. Crashing to the ground below, the structure sent a massive cloud of dirt up into the air. When the dust had settled, we were stunned to see that the mutant spider was gone.

"You've got to be fucking kidding. How did it get out of there?" Ace asked in disbelief and we all flew down and examined the area.

"Very impressive, itsy bitsy go bye bye," Lexi remarked.

"I don't understand, how could it be gone? It couldn't have just disappeared," I questioned, not knowing what the Hell was going on.

"You're right Ethan. There's got to be an explanation," Tech agreed, looking completely puzzled and putting his hand on the bottom of his muzzle.

"Oh man! I don't fucking believe it!" I heard Daniel exclaim in excitement.

Turning around, I saw Daniel picking up what appeared to be a brown Fuzz-z.

"Check it out! I've found a Fuzz-z! And this one is mine. Look, I have my very own superhero sidekick," Daniel said, holding up the bio-pet for everyone to see before he walked over to us and continued, "How about it? Wonderfluff? Yeah, that works."

Ace took the bio-pet out of Daniel's hand and started examining it suspiciously.

"Huh, big spider monster pulls a disappearing act and we find a hard to get bio-pet in it's place, what are the odds?" Ace said.

"4,027,867 to 1," Tech counted.

"Hm, kinda high on the coincidence meter," Ace remarked.

I kept staring at the bio-pet suspiciously, I had a theory about what was going on.

"Hey Ace," I said.

"Yeah? What is it Doc?" Ace asked me.

"I have a theory about what's going on, but I need to scan the Fuzz-z with my biogenetics scanner," I said.

"Hold on there Buster! You stay away from Wonderfluff or I'll kick your ass!" Daniel threatened me.

"If you so much as throw a punch at me, I'll knock you into next week, asshole," I snapped at him, shutting Daniel up.

Ace handed me the bio-pet and I took out my scanner before examining it. After a few seconds of scanning, I looked at the results and was shocked by what I saw.

"What is it Ethan?" Tech asked me, seeing the look of shock on my face.

"Look at this. This little guy's genetic makeup has been completely tampered with," I showed everyone the results.

"Yeesh, talk about screwy. What does this mean Ethan?" Ace asked me.

"From what my scanner is detecting, it appears that somebody has experimented on this little guy to get him to turn into a monster," I explained.

"But he's cute now, what could have caused him into that monster?" Lexi asked me, I noticed that she seemed to be hiding something and I filed that away for later.

"That I have no idea, but the transformation doesn't seem random to me. It seems to be triggered by something and until we find out what it is, we need to put these Fuzz-zs into quarantine until we figure out what the trigger is and prevent it from happening," I said seriously.

"Ah come on! You're not trying to pin this on Wonderfluff are you?" Daniel asked.

"You saw the results Duck, my scanner is never wrong. I'm not taking any risks and letting another one of these bio-pets rampage throughout the streets, killing God knows how many people," I said firmly, letting Daniel know that my mind was made up.

"Son of a bitch. Fine, just don't hurt him," Daniel agreed reluctantly.

I opened one of the pouches on my belt and took out a small cube, put it on the ground and pushed the button. It instantly formed into a large see-through container and I put the bio-pet inside.

Before I could close it, I heard a commotion and I looked to see Lexi chasing after her bio-pet and the one that was inside my container, jumped out and bounced alongside Zozo and they jumped into Daniel's backpack.

"Sorry, guess they like me better. Now I have two superhero sidekicks! How cool is that?" Daniel boasted.

"You had to bring the Fuzz," Ace deadpanned, scowling at Lexi who had the decency to look sheepish.

Suddenly, I heard the bio-pets eating something inside the backpack and I stared at Daniel questioningly.

"There is a party going on in your backpack," Lexi pointed out.

"Oh, I never go out into the field without some chocolate ab-inducer bars. Whoa, they must be really hungry," Daniel said and when he pulled out the fuzz-zs, I saw that something was wrong when they started trembling and my eyes widened in realization.

"Oh Fuck! Danny, put those bio-pets down and back away, now!" I shouted in alarm.

"What is it Ethan?!" Tech asked urgently.

"I think I know what the trigger is! Back away, now!" I shouted in panic.

Daniel yelped in pain and dropped the Fuzz-zs and the bio-pets started screeching when they started growing spikes out of their heads and razer sharp teeth appeared inside their mouths.

"Zozo?!" Lexi exclaimed in disbelief.

"Wonderfluff?!" Daniel also exclaimed.

The Fuzz-zs grew bigger, taller, and more menacing as spikes popped out of their heads, they sprouted eight legs, and their teeth grew long and sharp.

Before my eyes, the cute little bio-pets had transformed into giant mutant spiders and they started approaching us menacingly.

"I'm not so sure that Wonderfluff had all his shots. Anybody wanna buy a bio-pet cheap?" Daniel quipped to lighten the mood.

When the monsters started to swing their claws at us, Ace cried out, "Duck!" and the six of us dropped to the ground, except for Daniel, who was confused.

"What?" He asked before he was sent flying.

Ace and I got up, looked at each other, nodded, and got ready. Ace and I dodged, ducked, dipped, dived, and dodged out of the way of being stomped flat, but in the process, Ace and I were smacked away by it's hairy appendage and we crashed into a wall hard, knocking the breath out of us.

"Agh...Fuck," I groaned, coughing up blood.

"Smacked down by a God damn fuzz-ball? You realize of course that this...means...war," Ace declared and we picked ourselves up and got ready to bring down a world of hurt when Lexi stopped us.

"Wait!" Lexi grabbed our shoulders and she looked at us pleadingly.

"Hey! What gives?" Ace asked her.

"That's Zozo. Please be gentle with her, she's had a rough day," Lexi begged. Speaking of Zozo, the monster that used to be her approached us and all three of us dived out of the way to keep from getting eaten.

"Are you fucking serious Lex?! Zozo doesn't look like she's having a rough day! She looks like she wants to have us for lunch!" I exclaimed incredulously.

Slam tried to charge at Zozo, only to be grabbed. Slam kept using his twister and thunder power, forcing Zozo to let go and Slam got away. Rev zoomed around Zozo to make her dizzy and Daniel threw his energy eggs at Zozo's feet, the eggs turning into tar. Zozo managed to rip her feet out of the tar and accidentally fell over, prompting Slam to spin up again and he was about to plow through the monsters when Lexi stopped him.

"Slam! Wait!" Lexi cried out, forcing Slam to stop and look back at her in confusion.

I saw something was happening to the monsters. Wonderfluff was clutching his head and roaring before changing back to his normal self, along with Zozo and they jumped into their owner's hands.

"Oh thank God," I sighed out in relief, happy that it was over.

"I know Ethan. You said that you know what the trigger is, right? What the Hell's gotten into these fuzz-balls?" Ace questioned me.

"The trigger is chocolate. When they ate Duck's protein bars, it caused a chemical reaction that changed them into the monsters we fought," I explained.

"That's correct Ethan," I heard Zadavia say from above us.

Looking up, all seven of us saw Zadavia's face on a billboard and we flew up with our jet packs to talk to her.

"You're theory is right Ethan. The boy with the first Fuzz-z fed it a whole stash of chocolate candy before going to bed," Zadavia said.

"And like Ethan said, our Fuzz-zs changed when they ate Duck's chocolate!" Lexi said in realization.

"Precisely. Professor Zane's laboratory is located in the seventh quadrant. Just east of the industrial center," Zadavia informed us before she disconnected.

"The asshole who invented these hairballs better know of a way to cure their sweet tooth, 'cause Acmetropolis is crawling with them," Ace said.

We all looked down to see the people of Acmetropolis playing with the Fuzz-zs. Completely unaware of how dangerous those bio-pets are. If a shitload of people fed the Fuzz-zs chocolate, it would be a complete bloodbath.

"It's going to take a miracle to gather up all these Fuzz-zs. I can probably pick up about half of them but we're going to need something really amazing to get the rest of them," Rev said.

"Lucky for you guys, Tech and I have the perfect thing to do that. It's back at HQ. Follow us," I instructed and we all flew back to the Tower.

* * *

Loonatics Tower, Acmetropolis, California, July 5, 2772.

Tech and I were standing in front of our friends, with a large blast door right behind us. We were ready to present our latest invention.

"I bet Tech and Ethan have a few toys we can use," Ace commented.

"We give you, The Exo-vac 2400X," Tech announced as I pushed a button on the remote control, causing the door to open, revealing a giant aircraft that had a large vacuum attachment.

"Holy shit you two! Look at that thing!" Ace exclaimed in awe.

"It's the ultimate urban vacuum," I said with a grin, causing Slam to grunt happily.

"Now what in the Hell made you two come up with this?" Ace asked us.

"Try eating with Slam, not pretty," Tech replied.

"Yeah, all I can say is that I'm never looking at cake the same way again," I shuddered, causing Slam to glare and grumble at us.

"...It's targeting sensor allows us to retrieve The Fuzz-zs and not Innocent bystanders. We so rock in this lab," Rev explained but I was only able to decipher the last part of what he said.

"I get it, so your invention really sucks, Fuzz-zs that is. Loonatics, let's jet," Ace said and we all boarded the aircraft and took off.

"Lexi, you, Duck, and Ethan go warn Professor Zane that he may be in danger of his own creations, while the rest of us round up the rest of the fur-balls that are still out there," Ace instructed us.

"Roger that. Let's go guys," I said as we opened the airplane door and flew toward Zane's lab.

A short time later, the three of us arrived at Zane's lab and assessed the building as we landed.

"It doesn't look like anyone's home," Daniel said after a quick examination.

"No, someone's in there. I can hear breathing inside," Lexi informed us as she walked over to the entrance.

 _"She can hear breathing from a great distance? That's incredible,"_ I thought, feeling impressed, only Daniel was not so impressed.

"Show off," Daniel grumbled, and the two of us caught up to Lexi. All three of us entered the door, only to find it pitch black inside.

"Hello! Professor Zane?! We've come to warn you about your bio-pets!" Lexi called out as we walked forward.

 _"Something's wrong, this feels like an ambush,"_ I thought, getting a bad feeling about this.

"Professor?! We have reason to believe that your bio-pets are very very-" Lexi called out again, only to stop suddenly when the lights turned on and we were faced with giant mutant spiders approaching us menacingly.

"Well, looks like they already had their chocolate today," Daniel commented.

"I hope that's all they crave," Lexi agreed before a voice spoke up.

"Not only do they like chocolate, they also have a taste for rabbit, duck, and a little of human," the voice said, prompting us to turn around to see Professor Zane looking down at us, " and guess what, it's feeding time."

"Um, okay, to quote a certain cartoon character, talk about an unexpected twist," I said nervously.

"Get them!" Zane ordered and the monsters charged at us.

* * *

Tech was piloting the aircraft, using the vacuum he and Ethan invented to suck up most of the Fuzz-zs while Rev gathered the rest of them.

"Vacuum capacity: good. Suction: stable," Tech informed everyone.

"How are you doing back there Slam," Ace asked on his wrist communicator and received a hardy grunt in response.

Meanwhile, Rev was zooming around, gathering any Fuzz-z that he could see.

"Scuse me, scuse me, coming through. You mind if I borrow this for a little while? Sorry, this is a no Fuzz zone," Rev said to several kids as he was snatching bio-pets out of people's hands.

As Rev and the aircraft kept taking Fuzz-zs, one civilian saw what was going on and she wouldn't let them take her Fuzz-z.

 _"I can't let them see her,"_ The woman thought and she hid her Fuzz-z behind her back until they passed by her. But unfortunately, her plan didn't count on a certain road runner that had an internal G.P.S, tracker.

"Hm...picking up something on my internal sensors," Rev said out-loud and he looked behind him to see that he missed a Fuzz-z and he continued, " yep, there's one remaining bio-pet."

Zipping back to the girl, Rev grabbed the Fuzz-z and said, "Hello, if you want something to cuddle, you should try a cat. They would really go with your coloring, of course they can't do tricks and they can be very prickly. So if you don't mind, bye."

Ace kept looking down at the streets to see if they missed any Fuzz-zs, only to see that they had gotten every single one.

"Mission accomplished," Ace said and contacted the others that were at Zane's lab.

"How's everything on your end Lex?" Ace said into his communicator but got no response.

"Lex? Ethan, Duck, respond," Ace said into his communicator again in concern and when there was no reply, he turned to Tech and said seriously, "I've got a bad feeling about this."

Tech nodded and felt concerned for his friends, especially Ethan. Even though Tech knew that Ethan and the others could take care of themselves, he still couldn't help but feel worried about them.

"Let's ditch the fuzz-balls and bug out," Ace instructed as everyone headed back to the Tower.

The airship arrived at the side of the building and a door opened up and a balcony appeared. Tech dropped the container that was carrying The Fuzz-zs, then flipped a switch.

"Switching to turbo-vac: jet mode," Tech said and the aircraft transformed into a jet. He started piloting to Zane's lab, praying that they were okay.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Rev exclaimed and zoomed after them.

* * *

I was still struggling in the monster's grip while I was glaring defiantly at the madman that was a few feet away from us.

The three of us had tried to fight back and we took down a few monsters, but we were eventually overpowered and captured.

"So you knew all along that chocolate mutated the Fuzz-zs," Lexi assumed.

"Knew? I made sure of it. My first two Fuzz-zs weren't supposed to transform so soon. Not until I had completely flooded the entire city with bio-pets. One pulse from my electric leash and the savage beasts are under my control," Zane explained.

"So you wanted all of the Fuzz-zs to board the chocolate train to creatureville at the same time and tear Acmetropolis apart," Lexi said in realization.

"Sounds like someone's mommy didn't buy them enough chochy's when they were wittle," Daniel mocked Zane but it didn't seem to affect him much.

"Oh, you are just as naive as the God damned Acmetropolis Science Council," Zane said bitterly.

 _"Oh great, here comes the 'how I became a crazy villain' speech,"_ I thought, feeling unamused and staring at Zane with a deadpan expression.

Zane let out an insane laugh before he said, "Imagine it; firing me because they thought my experiments were too dangerous. They've never appreciated me or my genius or my-"

"Insanity? Craziness? Am I getting close you fucking psycho?" Lexi interrupted while making a coo-coo gesture.

"Hardly, I decided that Acmetropolis needed to see first hand on what I am capable of. When the meteor hit Earth, it opened up all kinds of fissures-" Zane started explaining, only to be cut off.

"Like the ones in your brain, Mr, Zane?" Daniel insulted, only to be ignored.

"I discovered these fascinating creatures. Their biology was perfect for some experiments I had in mind...experiments that led to the Fuzz-z. So cute and cuddly, until they have a bit of chocolate. Then, the only way to stop them is with this," Zane said, pointing to the controller that was in his right hand.

"I see now. You engineered their genetic makeup so that when the Fuzz-zs ate chocolate, it would cause a rapid chemical reaction that would drastically change them into the giant mutated spiders that have been terrorizing the city," I said in realization.

"Precisely. Hmm, you seem to be really knowledgeable for a vigilante. Are you by any chance a man of science?" Zane asked me, looking impressed.

"Yes I am, and it's crazy fuckers like you who give good scientists like me and my good friend Tech a bad name," I declared.

"A fellow scientist is here, wonderful. You know what, I like that you were able to figure out how I made the Fuzz-zs into what they are, so I've decided to make you an offer," Zane said.

"Oh yeah, what kind of offer?" I asked, knowing where this was going.

"It's simple, quit being a vigilante and come work for me. We are not so different. We both are men of science trying to make a difference but are criticized and shot down by damn bureaucrats who are only focused on their own greed and self-interests. If you join me, we could show those bastards what real science is and we could change the world for the better. How about it?" Zane proposed to me.

"Hmm...tempting offer, but no. There is only one huge difference between you and me Zane, Tech and I use our inventions to help people. As for you, you're just an egotistical psychopath that's throwing a temper tantrum because you didn't get what you wanted and now you are committing terrorist acts just to satisfy your own damaged ego. Sorry Zane, you can take your offer and shove it up your ass," I said defiantly.

"Shame, we could have been great together but what can I expect from a brute that would rather bloody his knuckles then make a real difference in a lab. No matter, kill them," Zane ordered.

The spider monsters tried to eat us but we kept struggling.

"So...about that controller, do you think you think you could demonstrate," Lexi struggled to say while she had her hands on the monster's head and pushing to keep herself from getting eaten.

"Oh no, they need their protein," Zane said smugly.

Just when I thought that we were going to die, something crashed through the door and I could see that it was our friends inside the aircraft.

"See, too much chocolate will make you sick," Ace quipped.

Taking advantage of the distraction, I melted and flowed out of the monster's hand before moving over and reforming at a safe distance, followed by Lexi and Daniel.

"Took you assholes long enough, where were you?" I asked, feeling relieved that reinforcements showed up but also a little annoyed that they took their sweet time in doing so.

"Sorry Doc, traffic is killer," Ace quipped again as he, Tech, and Slam jumped out and rejoined us.

I saw Zane running over to a lever and before any of us could stop him, he pulled it, resulting in canisters full of Fuzz-zs to come falling down and shattering, letting them free.

"What kind of host have I been? Would anyone care for some chocolate? The effect is temporary but the more they eat, the longer it lasts," Zane said as he pulled another lever and a door opened, resulting in mounds of candy bars to come pouring out and all of the Fuzz-zs started heading over to eat it all.

 _"Oh good God almighty! We can't let them eat all of that!"_ I thought in horror.

"Then no more candy for them. Slam, Rev, time for a little candy run," Ace instructed.

Rev and Slam nodded before quickly heading over to the piles of candy and started using their powers to get rid of them.

"Duck! The control box," Ace said, pointing at the controller that was in Zane's hand.

"What about it? Oh right," Daniel said and he formed an energy egg before tossing it at Zane's face.

"Heads up asshole!" Daniel announced.

Zane looked up in confusion when the egg blinded him and sent him flying, forcing him to drop the remote.

"I got it!" Daniel cried out, grabbing the remote and running away.

Then Lexi and Daniel's pets came jumping out of their pockets and went over to the candy.

"Zozo!" Lexi cried out in panic.

"Wonderfluff! No!" Daniel exclaimed in horror.

But the Fuzz-zs didn't listen and started eating. At this time, Zane managed to rip off the goop that was on his face and he ran over to Daniel to grab to remote and the two of them struggled.

"Hey! This is no time to dance dickhead!" Daniel grunted out.

Then, Zozo and Wonderfluff transformed into mutant spiders and they led the charge against us. We jumped out of the way but Lexi got grabbed and she started struggling.

"Let me go! I said, let me go!" Lexi yelled.

Seeing the catwalk above the monster, I said to Tech,"Tech! I'm going to restrain that monster while you use part of that catwalk to tie it's legs up. Just wait for my signal."

Tech nodded and I ran up and stretched and wrapped my entire body around the monster, forcing it to let go of Lexi.

"Now!" I yelled and Tech used his magnetic powers to rip off part of the catwalk and tie up the monster's legs. I unwrapped myself and the monster fell down where Daniel and Zane were struggling over the controller.

"Daniel! Incoming!" I yelled, causing him and Zane to look up and dive out of the way to prevent themselves from being crushed to death but in the process, Daniel let go of the remote and it went flying and landed several feet away. Lexi and Tech dove to grab the remote, and got grabbed by the mutant spiders in the process.

"Oh fuck! Not again! Ace!" Lexi yelled in desperation.

"On it Lex," Ace said and he used the monsters heads as springboards to get over to the remote, only he got grabbed as well.

"I got it!" Zane yelled as he grabbed the remote and he looked at everyone before boasting," I told you before Loona-pests, as long as I have this remote, they are under my complete control."

Zane went to press a button, only for his finger to hit his palm.

"What?! Where is it?! Where is it?!" Zane exclaimed, looking around frantically until he heard me clearing my throat and Zane turned around to see me standing several feet behind him, holding the remote and waving it at him tauntingly.

"You forgot somebody, dumbass," I said mockingly and I pushed the button, causing an electrical current to come out and hit all of the monsters.

"My babies!" Zane yelled in despair.

All the monsters changed back to cute little fuzzballs. As my friends were freed, they started cheering and congratulating me.

Suddenly, the remote started glowing in my hand and then it suddenly exploded in my face. When the dust cleared, I looked all charred with bloodshot eyes and I let out a single cough.

"Ethan! Are you okay?!" Lexi cried out.

"Hold that thought," I groaned out before turning into ashes and I continued, " smoke if you got em."

* * *

After Professor Zane was arrested, the seven of us took the Fuzz-zs back to where they came from and Tech used the vacuum to blow them into the fissure. When that was done, it was time for Lexi and Daniel to say goodbye to Zozo and Wonderfluff.

"Time to go," Lexi said but her Fuzz-z let out a whimper, causing her to say, " aw come on, you'll be happier down there. No deranged scientist to mess with you, and no chocolate...I hope."

"I salute you. You've been a brave solder Wonderfluff. I also fear you but let's not get into that," Daniel said, and the two of them walked over to the ledge and tossed them then walked back to us. Tech tapped on his wrist computer to activate Zadavia's holographic display.

"Congratulations Loonatics. Thanks to your efforts, Professor Zane's nefarious scheme has been shut down. Take the rest of the day off, you deserve it, Zadavia out," Zadavia said with a smile before she disconnected.

"You know, Fuzz-zs are so over. I've already moved on to the next big thing, take a look at this," Daniel said and presented to us some kind of miniature circus.

"A look at what?" Lexi asked in confusion.

"Oh, a little hamster playhouse," Ace said, intrigued.

"No damn it, a little flea circus," Daniel said in irritation.

We all leaned in to get a better look and Lexi said, "I don't see any fleas."

"Looks like there's a hole in the box," Tech pointed out after looking underneath.

"Oh just fucking perfect. Where the Hell are the fleas?" Daniel said, and I winced when I realized what could have happened to them.

"Um, Duck, I think I might know," I said dreadfully.

Before Daniel could say anything, he let out a yell of pain and started scratching his ass frantically.

"Come on, let's have you start up a flea bath back home so that nether of us gets chomped," Tech said and we headed back to the aircraft while keeping a safe distance away from Daniel.


	5. The Cloak Of Black Velvet

Loonatics Tower, Acmetropolis, California, August 15, 2772.

I was sitting in the living room along with the others, working up a schematic for a new invention on my wrist computer. Looking up, I saw Ace and Lexi talking, Tech was meditating on his hover disk above us, Slam was sitting on the sofa, working his way through a large box of watermelons, and Daniel was hanging upside-down on the back of the couch, talking on his phone.

I smiled when I saw my lab partner sitting on his hover disk in a lotus position, looking very calm with his eyes closed. Ever since Ace showed Tech how to meditate, Tech had been getting really involved with the practice and because of it, he had been more focused and alert in the lab. I looked back to my wrist computer and continued working on the schematic when I heard Daniel talking on his phone.

"Hello, Acme Super Hero Costume Discount Warehouse? I've been trying to place an order. Hello?" Daniel tried to listen to the person on the phone, but he was having trouble hearing because Slam was eating so loudly near the phone.

"Please Slam, I'm trying to hear," Daniel snapped at him in irritation before he heard someone speaking on the phone. "Oh, there you are. I like to order a perforated suede superhero's cape in Robin's Egg Blue."

When he heard the operator put him on hold, Daniel flipped from his upside down position and landed next to Slam, who was still eating.

"Just trying to jazz things up a bit, give the costume a little flare. Stand out more for the boss lady," Daniel said confidently to Slam.

"Uh-huh," Slam grunted through a mouthful of watermelon.

"Like you care," Daniel grumbled when he saw the mocking grin on his face.

"He's so into the meditating thing," Lexi pointed out while she and Ace headed over to where Tech was at.

"Ever since I showed him how to do it, nothing disturbs him," Ace explained.

"Hello? Hello?! This is fucking ridiculous, it's the 28th century. We have jet packs, hovercrafts, computer synchronized latte makers, but I can't get a good signal on the 134th floor!" Daniel complained in a pissed off tone.

As he said that, a really annoying sound blared out from Daniel's phone, breaking Tech out of his meditation and causing me to accidentally smack my hand on my wrist computer as I jumped.

"Danny! Shut that fucking ringer off!" Tech and I yelled at him. Tech was looking at Daniel with a calm expression and I was staring at Daniel with a pissed off one.

"At least the ringer works. The rest of it is junk," Daniel answered us bitterly.

"Have some respect, I'm clearing my mind here," Tech said in slight irritation as the hover disk landed onto the ground.

"And I was trying to work on these new schematics here until that fucking ring tone of yours screwed it up," I said, glaring at Daniel.

"Hmph! Oh please, you'd need a hazmat team to clear out the crap in your head, Tech," Daniel insulted. Normally that would piss anyone off but Tech ignored it.

Then, Daniel's phone started ringing that irritating sound and Daniel answered.

"Hello! Hello?!" hanging up out of frustration, Daniel exclaimed, "Argh! I've fucking had it! No more Goddamn technology for me! From now on, I'm doing things the old fashioned way."

"Yeah right. No phone, no E.M.P Music Blaster 5000," Lexi said doubtfully.

"And no high-tech weapons," Ace chimed in.

"Who needs 'em? My bare hands are lethal weapons," Daniel boasted as he showed us two of his energy eggs.

"You really think that you can live without technology for the rest of your life?" I asked skeptically.

"Yep," Daniel said proudly.

"You couldn't go one low-tech week without high-tech stuff," Tech challenged.

"Oh really? Well I'm not like you or Ethan, Mr. Techno geek," Daniel insulted.

It was at that point that when Tech stood up and towered over him, I knew that Daniel was going to get it now, since he had just basically dug himself into a hole that he wouldn't be able to get himself out of.

"I'll make you a bet. If you can get through one week with no technology, then I'll buy you that new cape myself. And if not, you buy it for me," Tech laid out the terms.

"I want the matching knee high boots," Daniel added.

"No problem," Tech said.

"You're on mister!" Daniel agreed and they shook on it.

"By the way, I'm a 13 wide," Tech said with a smug grin, resulting in Daniel to scowl at him.

Once that was done, Rev walked in and told us that Zadavia was contacting us, prompting us to head over to the meeting room and sit down in our seats.

"Gather round Loonatics, we have a major crisis besides Duck's new costume request. Begin the holographic imaging feed," Zadavia instructed.

Tech accessed the panel in front of him and the three screens showed a heist being committed. I felt sick to my stomach when I saw security guards trying to fight back with MP5s, Glock 17s, and laser guns, only they were gutted and decapitated by the robbers.

"Moments ago, someone calling herself Black Velvet, stole the Acmetropolis series five radar system," Zadavia explained as the screens showed a woman breaking into the building, dressed in black, wearing a hooded cloak and goggles with glowing red lenses.

"That satellite directs all air and space traffic in and out of the city," Tech explained.

"So much for my weekend getaway to Acmepulco..." Lexi said in disappointment.

"I am afraid it gets worse. They've also taken the Acme Super Computer," Zadavia informed us.

"That is one of the most advanced systems in the United States. Tech and I should know, we were the ones who built it," I explained, and Slam let out an impressed grunt.

"See what happens when you rely on technology? Complete fucking chaos! I am so going to win this bet," Daniel stated arrogantly and I Gibbs-slapped him in the back of his head in response.

"Jesus Danny! Forget the fucking bet, pay attention!" I snapped at him in irritation.

"Yes mom," Daniel grumbled sarcastically while he was rubbing his head.

"Thank you Ethan. I'm uploading security footage now," Zadavia said.

The screen showed footage of an army of cyborg men breaking into a room and killing more security guards.

"Get us a closer shot of those raiders Tech," Ace said. Tech complied by zooming in and we could see the faces of the raiders.

"Most fascinating. Their armor is like nothing I have ever seen before," I commented, and I could see the woman known as Black Velvet passing by.

"Hubba-hubba! Hoo-hoo-ba," Slam said happily when he saw Black Velvet.

"She's not that pretty," Lexi grumbled in resentment.

"Nah, he's right, she's fucking hot," Ace said, his eyes glued at Black Velvet as the woman on the screen took off her hood and goggles.

"For fuck's sake, quit thinking with your downstairs brain," Lexi snapped in irritation.

"Attractive or not, she's bad to the bone. You have to figure out what she is up to. Good luck Loonatics, Zadavia out," Zadavia said before she disconnected.

"Alrighty gang, let's jet," Ace said and we all got up and headed for the hanger.

When we entered and the others saw the new jet, they turned to look at me and Tech.

"Ethan and I needed an excuse to try out our new jet," Tech explained.

We all entered the jet and since I was the best pilot on the team, I took the front seat and we flew outside.

I had given the controls over to Ace and several minutes later, Lexi noticed that we were going the wrong way.

"Um...Ace? Aren't we going the wrong way? The space port is east," Lexi asked in confusion.

"Yeah, but we're going to where the action is. Check out the skyline, just like before the first attack," Ace explained as he was flying us to where ominous black clouds were hovering over a building that Tech and I were familiar with.

"That's right over the Acme Tech University," I informed everyone.

"Which is the ancestral home for geeks, dweebs, and brainiac nerds," Daniel insulted, and Tech and I scowled at him.

"Ethan and I went to school there once, jackass," Tech said in slight irritation.

"There's a shocker," Daniel said sarcastically.

"You know Duck, you are making it very tempting for me to give you an ass whooping," I threatened.

Wanting to change the subject, Ace asked, "Does this puppy have a hyper drive?" then he pushed forward on the wheel and the jet went even faster.

"I'll take that as a yes," Ace remarked wryly.

Ace landed the jet at the base of the building and when we got out, a black blob covered us and we were surrounded by darkness.

"Oh shit, somebody turned out the lights. Failed again by technology," I heard Daniel say.

"Tech, Ethan. Any thoughts, any suggestions?" Ace asked us.

"Right now, Rev's got to be our eyes," Tech said.

"I have an idea. Rev, I'm going to need your G.P.S Ability," I said.

Then I felt a hand on my shoulder and my body copied Rev's G.P.S and super speed abilities.

"Thank you Rev," I said and I activated Rev's G.P.S and saw that we were surrounded by the men we saw on the screens.

"Guys, I got a lock on these bastards," I said as the raiders started charging at us.

"Watch out Lexi, you're surrounded," Rev pointed out and Lexi threw a few punches and a roundhouse kick that sent a few raiders flying.

"Back the fuck off boys," Lexi growled and sent out a flurry of punches.

"Contacts varying 45 degrees, 46 degrees, 47 degrees, 48 degrees," I informed Lexi while I grabbed a raider and hip tossed him to the ground.

"Slam, they're right in front of you. Spin straight ahead," Rev instructed.

Slam grinned and he plowed through a few raiders, not knowing that Tech and I were right in front of him.

"No Slam, Watch out!" Rev warned but it was too late.

Slam crashed into us and all three of us went flying in opposite directions.

 _"Argh...Jesus. What the Hell, did I inherent Wile E. Coyote's bad luck when I copied Tech's powers?"_ I thought as I was getting up and I formed my arm into a blade, blocked a strike that would've cleaved me in half, and grabbed him and did a judo flip, sending the raider to the ground.

Suddenly, I heard an explosion coming from Acme Tech University but I was too focused on preventing myself from being gutted and I met up with Ace and we backed up together.

"I can't see them, but I can smell them. Hyah!" Daniel cried out and the two of us ducked to avoid getting hit by his karate chop.

"Son of a bitch! Careful Danny, you almost took our damn heads off!" I yelled sternly.

"Oops, sorry," Daniel said sheepishly. Then all seven of us heard an unfamiliar female voice.

"We got what we came for. Crush them. I see dark days ahead Loonatics," I heard the woman say.

Using my G.P.S ability, I saw that the owner of the voice was Black Velvet, who was flying back to her zeppelin.

When the men left and the darkness disappeared, I was baffled at first but then I heard something start to collapse and I looked to my right to see that we were in the path of a falling building.

"Holy shit! Incoming!" I alerted in panic.

"I see it! Loonatics! Let's jet!" Ace shouted.

We all scattered and when I looked behind me, I saw Daniel being crushed by the debris and horror ran through me.

"Danny!" I yelled in panic.

"Oh my God!" Lexi also yelled.

"Dig him out for Christ sakes!" Ace ordered frantically.

We all immediately ran over and desperately moved construction beams and rubble out of the way, praying that our friend was not dead.

"Woo-hoo, missed me," I heard a familiar voice and I turned around to see Daniel standing nearby. Relieved and pissed beyond belief, I stormed over and Gibbs-slapped him hard upside the head.

"Ow! Fuck, that hurt!" Daniel exclaimed in pain as he grabbed his head and started rubbing it.

"Fucking Hell Danny! You scared the ever-loving shit out of us! We thought you were dead!" I shouted.

Before Daniel could retort, Black Velvet said, "Catch me if you can Loonatics."

The zeppelin that Black Velvet was on disappeared and Ace said, "C'mon, we can't lose her now!"

The seven of us got into the jet and I flew us into the ominous clouds.

"Time to pop this balloon," Ace said, but when he saw no sign of the zeppelin, he asked Tech, "Picking up anything, Tech?"

"They must have deployed some sort of cloaking device," Tech informed us.

"Anything Rev?" Ace asked.

"No trace, no mark, no sign, no trail, no heat, no lick, no speck, no particle, no nothing," Rev informed us.

"Son of a bitch, I'm not getting a lock on them either," I said in frustration.

"I hate being left in the dark," Ace grumbled as darkness covered us.

"God dammit, who the hell turned out the lights?" Daniel complained.

Suddenly, I heard a scream and the sounds of someone being attacked. Next thing I knew, the darkness went away and I noticed that someone was missing.

"Um, where the Hell did Tech go?" Ace asked uneasily when he saw the empty seat.

"Oh God, look," Lexi pointed out in horror.

Tech, looking unconscious and covered by a sphere of darkness, was being taken into the zeppelin and it started flying away.

 _"Oh no she didn't,"_ I thought, feeling livid that these bastards have the gall to take a good friend of mine.

"Alright Loonatics, she's got something to learn. If you take one of us, you take all of us," Ace said in determination.

The zeppelin flew out of the clouds and Rev said, "Ace, I'm picking something up; straight ahead."

"I see them. Ethan, take us in," Ace instructed me.

"Roger," I said and moved us even closer to the zeppelin. From out of nowhere, three ships came out of the clouds and started firing at us.

"Shit! Enemy contact at 12 o'clock! Engaging evasive maneuvers!" I announced and I started moving us out of the way of laser fire.

* * *

 _"Oh God...my head,"_ Tech thought as he was waking up with a pounding headache.

Tech didn't know what the Hell happened. One second he was in the jet and the last thing he remembered was seeing darkness covering the jet before being cold-cocked by somebody. Tech saw that he was in a darkened room and just when he thought things couldn't get any worse, he looked down to see that he was strapped to a table.

 _"Oh fuck, not good. I need to get the Hell out of here,"_ Tech thought and before he could do anything, he heard a familiar voice.

"Welcome to my city in the clouds. Isn't it gorgeous?" the voice said and Tech quickly looked to the right to see Black Velvet floating over to him.

"I built it for me and my shadow raiders, so that we can live high in the sky," Velvet explained.

Tech tried to use his strength to break out of his binding, but he had no success and he quipped, "Sure as Hell beats the rock you crawled out from under."

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm no common thief. I'm not like everyone else. Thanks to the meteor that hit earth, my eyes have been permanently scarred," Velvet explained and she took off her goggles and opened her eyes to show that they were completely clouded over, much to Tech's horror.

"Jesus fucking Christ, and your mind's been permanently scrambled!" Tech exclaimed in disgust.

"I can no longer tolerate any light, I've been forced to live here for far too long, which is why I need a scientist of your genius to help me," Velvet said.

"Never going to happen. I know what you are going to do," Tech growled.

"Oh really? Enlighten me," Velvet said curiously.

"You'll use the Doppler Radar to produce a curtain of darkness powered by pulses from the light wave emitter, which will block our sun and plunge all of earth into permanent darkness," Tech theorized, looking pissed at first but as Tech finished his sentence, his eyes widened in horror and realization.

"I call it the Shroud-Caster and soon, everyone will suffer as I have. But, you have forgotten the part where the industrious coyote builds it for me," Velvet said leaning over and giving Tech a seductive smile.

"Keep dreaming, you crazy bitch," Tech said defiantly.

"Not many dogs can resist my charms Tech. Especially an overworked inventor who doesn't get out much!" Velvet said, grabbing Tech's muzzle for a moment before letting go and backing away.

"Fuck you! Me and my friend Ethan swore to each other that we would never use our intellect for harm, so you can go to Hell," Tech said with a glare.

"Shame. If you won't do it voluntarily, then I'll have you do it by force!" Velvet declared, aiming her mechanical claw at Tech. Green rays shot out and sunk into the coyote's head and he could feel himself beginning to lose control of his mind and body.

"Argh! What the fuck is that?! Get the Hell out of my head!" Tech exclaimed in pain, closing his eyes and trying to resist but it didn't do any good.

"Don't resist my shadow force baby, as it reaches into your mind, giving me complete control," Velvet said, holding Tech's face for a few seconds. He opened his eyes, and she could see they were clouded over.

Tech let out a small groan as the table lifted and the shackles unlocked before Velvet floated away and Tech followed after her with an empty expression on his face.

"Now, how about you get to work, alright baby?" Velvet asked soothingly.

"As you wish," Tech groaned blankly.

* * *

I didn't know how long I had been evading Velvet's forces but if my calculations were correct, I would hazard a guess and say that only a few minutes had passed.

"We can't shake these things!" Lexi exclaimed in panic.

"Son of a bitch! These fuckers are worse then gnats!" I yelled in frustration.

"That's it! We're screwed, all of us!" Daniel yelled.

"All right Slam, they leave us no choice. Ethan, prepare for maneuver 180!" Ace instructed me.

I nodded and turned the steering wheel, beginning an impressive series of maneuvers that resulted in a mid-air somersault that suddenly placed us directly behind Velvet's forces.

"Now Slam! Fire!" Ace ordered.

Slam complied by pushing a blue button and three missiles shot out and headed to the enemy fighter jets. My eyes widened in horror when the jets passed the zeppelin and came back around to us, so that the missiles continued on toward the zeppelin.

"The attack fighters led the missiles directly to the zeppelin," Lexi pointed out.

"Now the zeppelin's the target," Ace commented to no one in particular.

"But Tech's up there," Lexi said out of concern.

"Oops," Slam grunted, a look of horror on his face.

"Then we got to stop those damn missiles before they blow the zeppelin and Tech out of the sky," Ace stated as I flew us closer to the missiles and Ace continued, " Can you brain-blast them Lex?"

"Not from here," Lexi said disheartened.

"First one's yours Rev," Ace said as I was opening the glass ceiling.

"I am on it Ace!" Rev said and he took off flying to one of the missiles.

"Here's my chance to rip on technology, the next one's mine," Daniel declared and he got up and looked at the next missile.

"You got it Danny," I said and flew us closer to the next one.

"Little bit closer, a little bit closer," Daniel said and he quacked onto the surface of the missile.

"He's unflappable, unstoppable, unbelievable. He shoots..." Rev paused for dramatic affect and he kicked the missile to make it explode before he finished, " he scores! Back to you Charlie."

"Nice work Rev, hit the showers," Ace said, looking proud but as we were reaching the highest levels of the atmosphere, Ace let out a nervous chuckle and said, "Hey-uh...looks like we're running out of sky Lex."

"On the count of 3. 1, 2, 2 and a half, 3!" Lexi declared and she shot the missile with her brain-blast, causing it to explode.

"Bull's eye Lex," Ace said.

The explosion created a massive shockwave that sent the jet spinning out of control, causing everyone to scream in terror.

"Ohhhh fuck me! Hold on to your asses!" I yelled in panic, trying to stabilize the jet and a few seconds later, the shock-wave caused the zeppelin to appear.

"Alright Lexi, you knocked out their cloaking. Now where's Duck?" Ace asked as I managed to stabilize the jet.

When I looked up and saw Daniel still on the missile, trying to stop it, I let out a groan and said, "What the Hell is he still doing on there? Ace, handing the controls over to you. I gotta get him off that missile before he gets blown up into bloody chunks."

I got up and Ace walked over and sat down. I opened the glass ceiling and jumped out, landing on the nose of the jet. Having no time to use my jet pack, I formed a pair of large white wings on my back and flew over to Daniel.

"Insert tab B into-oh motherfucker, where the hell is the manual?" I heard Daniel complain before I grabbed him and flew us back to the jet.

"Hey! I was just figuring out how to fly that thing! A few more seconds and I would have-" Daniel complained but he was cut off when the missile exploded a second later.

"You were saying?" I quipped with a smirk and Daniel groaned in response at the thought of him turning into a bloody and gory mess if I hadn't of got him off in time.

Heading back inside, I went to one of the compartments that was next to the pilot seat and pulled out a box and said, "Introducing the Ninjizer 500 and N.V.G. Goggles."

I pushed the red button on the box and it formed into a large bazooka before I handed it over to Ace and he flew us under the zeppelin.

"Slam, time to do your thing," Ace said. Slam jumped up and ripped a large piece of armor off the underside of the zeppelin, allowing all six of us to jump up inside, where we could barely make out in the darkness that there was a floating city inside.

"Holy shit...we're definitely not in Kansas anymore," Lexi said as she was looking around in surprise.

"Amazing...a giant city inside a large zeppelin. I would love to see the specs of this place," I mumbled in awe.

"Activate night vision opticals," Ace ordered.

"Activated," we all said and the five of us along with Ace, turned on the NVGs.

"Let's go crush some Velvet," Ace vowed and we all nodded as Ace had us separate into two teams.

The plan was simple, Lexi, Slam, and Rev would head to the main power grid to shut it off while Ace, Daniel and I would find Tech and we would get the Hell out of here once the power grid was shut off.

A few minutes later, we arrived at the control room. Taking care to look for any guards, we gave Ace the go-ahead to use his laser vision to cut a hole in the glass. The three of us jumped through and looked around to make sure that there were no threats, I saw Tech typing on a console and I was relieved to see that he looked okay.

"Hey Tech old pal, let's make like an atom and split," Ace quipped. I started feeling concerned when Tech didn't react, but just kept typing.

"Uhhh...Tech?" Ace asked hesitantly.

"Something's wrong, he's not responding," I said before we heard someone behind us and we turned around to see Velvet floating behind us.

"Tech only answers to me now. You boys are just in time to watch as we usher in the dark ages," Velvet said smugly.

Velvet opened her cloak to fire streams of dark energy and Ace countered with his optic blast. Once the two attacks canceled each other out, Velvet said, "Ah-ah, not tonight Loonatics." Then she fired her arm cannon, forcing the three of us to jump out of the way.

After dodging a few times, I formed one of my arms into a shield and raised it up in front of me to prevent myself from getting hit. I looked over to see Ace landing onto his side and he fired the Ninjizer 500 at Velvet, forcing her to cover herself with her cloak. The shots ricochet off her and she fired back in retaliation.

Ace dodged out of the way, just in time for Daniel to get hit. A dark purple bubble formed around the unfortunate duck while Ace tried to attack. Velvet's defenses were down but he got shot by the dark energy beams anyway, sending Ace flying back to where Daniel was, dropping the Ninjizer in the process. I did the smart thing by regrouping with the others.

"Ethan, if you have a plan, we would very much like to hear it right now," Ace said to me nervously.

"Okay, here's what we need to do. Ace, Daniel, you two keep Velvet and her forces busy while I get Tech away from that console," I instructed.

"No problem Ethan. Duck, maybe you can deal with her friends," Ace suggested before he ran back into the fight.

"Righty-o Ace," Daniel agreed and he ran over to the raiders and used the sphere he was trapped in to knock them over like bowling pins.

"Strike!" Daniel exclaimed proudly.

Seeing that Velvet and her men were distracted, I started heading over to Tech when he said, "Miss Velvet, your Shroud-Caster is ready."

"Why thank you, baby," Velvet commented while she was still trying to shoot Ace.

"Tech, no!" I yelled out in panic and ran over to get my brainwashed friend away from the console, but Velvet to saw me and blasted me into a wall, sending me crashing to the ground, groaning.

"Ethan!" Ace shouted and he ran over to help me, but Velvet fired a green and black cord that tied him up and sent him into a wall.

"Activate the Shroud-Caster, now!" Velvet ordered.

Seeing Tech about to push the button, I forced myself up, ran over and speared Tech away from the console and to the floor.

"Ugh, damn it! If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself!" Velvet exclaimed out of irritation, and she flew over and pushed the button.

The machine lit up and the Shroud-Caster projected a curtain of darkness that covered the city and spread out into the surrounding area for miles. Before I could react, Tech had pinned me to the floor and he put his hands around my neck and he started choking me.

"Kill him!" Velvet yelled out in glee.

I was gagging and trying to push him off but Tech was too strong. Before I knew it, I couldn't breathe and I started punching him out of sheer desperation.

"Tech...stop...it's Ethan...you're killing me..." I barely said, my vision darkening. I simply grabbed his arms weakly and tears started running down my face out of sheer terror.

"Face it, he can't hear you. Goodbye Loonatic and good riddance," Velvet said mockingly.

"Wait! I can wake him! Hold on Ethan!" I faintly heard Daniel yell and I heard a familiar annoying ring-tone, which caused Tech to snap out of it.

"Argh! That annoying fucking phone!" Tech yelled out in a pissed off tone.

I let out a slight gurgle and weakly tapped Tech's arm to let him know that he was still choking me. Tech looked down and he screamed in sheer horror and let me go. I sat up quickly, gasping for air, coughing and hacking.

"Oh my God, Ethan! What the fuck am I doing?! Oh fuck, I think I'm going to be sick..." Tech shouted in horror, getting up and backing away, hyperventilating.

"It's okay...it's not your fault...let's make Velvet pay," I weakly said in a raspy voice as I unsteadily stood up.

"Tech! I need a little help over here!" Ace called out while he was still struggling to break out of his bindings.

"Activating night vision," Tech said somewhat calmer. His eyes started glowing red as he used his magnetic powers to grab the Ninjizer 500 and he fired a beam at Ace, cutting the ropes and setting him free.

"Ha! Too little, too late! Darkness was my curse, now it will be yours Loonatics!" Velvet cried out in victory.

"Lexi, have you reversed the polarity?" Ace said through his wrist communicator.

"Not yet Ace!" I heard Lexi respond.

A few seconds later, I heard Lexi say, "Got it." and light flooded the room, forcing Velvet to cover herself with her cloak.

"My city of darkness! Noooo!" Velvet screamed out in horror.

"I think it's time for us to get the hell out of Dodge," Ace said as he ran off, followed by the rest of us.

The four of us met back up with the others and we jumped into the jet and took off just in time to escape the exploding zeppelin.

 _"Good riddance,"_ I thought, staring coldly at where the zeppelin used to be as we headed for home.

* * *

Loonatics tower, Acmetropolis, California, August 15, 2772.

I was sitting in my regular spot, still recovering from my near death experience while the others were relaxing in their own way.

Rev was playing his seventh or eighth game of one man air hockey while Slam was watching, Tech was working in the lab to create some guns that would give us an advantage against anyone that tried to invade the tower but mostly, he was working in the lab to get his mind off of the fact that he tried to kill me, even though he had no control over his actions. Ace and Lexi were playing pool, and Daniel was waiting impatiently for his delivery.

"Has anybody seen Tech? I think he has something he wants to say to me," Daniel said as he walked up to Ace and Lexi and hearing a noise right behind them, they looked to see that it was Tech and he was wearing a blue cape and matching boots.

"Thanks, I went ahead and ordered them. Nice, huh? They're sending you the bill," Tech said smugly as he was pulling his cape inward. Turning to me, Tech asked, "What do you think Ethan?"

"Nice outfit man, you look pretty good," I complemented him, my voice still raspy.

"But-but those are mine! You were suppose to buy them for me!" Daniel protested as he was storming over to Tech and pointing to him.

"Eh, you used your phone Danny. We all saw ya," Ace pointed out.

"But I-I only used the phone to save him and Ethan! If not for me, Tech would've killed Ethan and he would still be 'what ever you say oh velvety one'," Daniel complained.

"A bet's a bet," Lexi said.

Then Zadavia's hologram appeared.

"Good work Loonatics. Despite Black Velvet's disappearing act, the Shroud-Caster has been dismantled and all the parts have been returned," Zadavia praised us before she looked at Tech and said, "oh my Tech, don't you look heroic."

"Why thank you Zadavia," Tech said, looking proud to be receiving praise.

"Very impressive, indeed," Zadavia added.

"But-but-but..." Daniel tried to rebuttal but he couldn't get his mouth to work.

"Zadavia out," she said and disconnected.

"Wait! Come back dammit! I picked out the cape and the matching boots! I'm the heroic looking one! Be impressed with me!" Daniel cried out the last part, only to receive no sympathy from the others.

"Maybe you can call her back on your cell phone," Lexi said while she was making a phone gesture with her hand.

"If you can get a signal," Ace added, which didn't make Daniel feel any better.

"You know what assholes? You're all despicable," Daniel grumbled in irritation.

* * *

One week later.

It was late at night and I was tossing and turning in bed, unable to get any sleep.

I couldn't help but feel worried about Tech. For the past week, he had been avoiding me. When Tech thinks I'm not looking, I've seen him out of the corner of my eye, staring at me with this look of guilt on his face. I knew that what Velvet had done had deeply affected him and now I had had enough. I didn't want Tech to keep feeling like it was his fault, so I decided to deal with this right now.

"Screw it," I grumbled and got up, walked to the closet, put on a clean shirt and walked out of my room.

When I stopped in front of Tech's room, I put in the code he gave to me and headed inside. When I saw Tech in his bed sitting up and hunched over, his hands in his head, and his shoulders shaking, I felt really concerned for him.

Walking over and sitting down next to him, I said gently, "Tech?"

My good friend tensed before lowering his hands and looking at me, showing me how red his eyes were from crying.

"Oh Jesus. You had a nightmare about what happened on the zeppelin, didn't you?" I asked.

Tech nodded and he started tearing up again. I didn't say anything but simply held him in my arms and Tech broke down sobbing.

"It's okay man, it was only a nightmare," I said sorrowfully.

"But...it felt r-real. E-Every time I-I close m-my eyes, it's t-the sa-ame dream over a-and over ag-gain! I can't stop s-seeing the l-life fade from your e-eyes!" Tech choked out, tears running down his muzzle.

"Tech..." I trailed off, feeling like I wanted to cry.

"You're my best friend! I don't want to hurt you! You know I would never do that!" Tech exclaimed, sobbing even harder.

I started to tear up at seeing my friend crying again. It felt agonizing seeing Tech looking so broken and I started wondering if we could maintain our careers as members of The Loonatics. Tech and I didn't ask for this. We didn't ask for our lives to be torn apart by the meteor and given these powers, we didn't ask for a woman to show up and bring all seven of us together and thrust this huge responsibility upon us. We didn't ask to be heroes, but when I think about how much worse things would've gotten if we hadn't accepted Zavavia's deal, the city and maybe civilization would've collapsed. It could have been complete anarchy, lawlessness and death like in that book 'Lord of the Flies'. Thinking about how we had saved people many times from certain death made me realize that being a hero was worth it and I decided to tell Tech something that I've kept from him since the meteor.

"Tech, I have something to confess," I said, causing Tech to look at me in confusion.

"What is it?" Tech asked me.

"You're not the only one that's having nightmares," I admitted, looking at him sheepishly.

"Oh? What kind of nightmares?" Tech asked me curiously.

"I've been having nightmares about the day the meteor fell and how you looked when I found you after I regained consciousness," I confessed.

"What? Why would you keep this to yourself?" Tech questioned me, looking hurt.

"Because I didn't know how to tell you or the others. I didn't have many friends growing up and because of my high I.Q, I have always been a bit of an outcast. Not a lot of people like it when there is someone smarter than them," I said and let out a humorless laugh.

"What about your parents? Weren't they proud of you?" Tech asked me.

"I wouldn't know if my dad was proud of me. He disappeared when I was 5 years old and my Mom and I never saw him again," I explained.

"Damn, I'm sorry. What did your Father do before he went missing?" Tech asked me.

"He was a basketball player in the NBA, but had to retire early due to an injury. After that he went into construction management," I explained.

"Your Father was a basketball player? That's impressive," Tech said.

"I know, but the reason I'm here right now is because you're not alone and if you want to talk, I'm here," I said, putting my hand on Tech's shoulder to let him know that he had my support.

"Thanks Ethan. How about we get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow," Tech said with a smile.

"Sure," I said and I walked out of his room and headed back to mine.

After entering my room and laying back down on my bed, I smiled, knowing that everything was going to be alright.


	6. Weathering Heights

Loonatics Tower, Acmetropolis, California, September 8, 2772.

I was startled awake when my holographic alarm clock went off.

"All right damn it..." I groaned and I shut my alarm clock off and got up.

After heading into the bathroom and taking a shower, combing my hair, and brushing my teeth, I put on my suit, gloves, belt, and boots, then walked into the kitchen to see what was in the fridge.

 _"Not much in here. Slam must have raided the fridge again... Screw it. Looks like I'm having toast and coffee for breakfast,"_ I thought and grabbed the packaged wheat bread.

Once I was done using the toaster and making a cup of coffee, I sat down at the table and started eating the toast and drinking the coffee.

"Sure is a windy morning today," I commented out loud while I was looking outside.

Done with my breakfast, I got up and headed to the hanger to finish a new vehicle called the porta-lab. When I walked inside the hanger, I was surprised to see Tech already awake and working on the porta-lab.

"Tech, good morning," I announced and Tech looked back to see me.

"Good morning Ethan. If you're wondering why I'm up, it's because I wanted to finish the porta-lab early," Tech explained.

"Oh, alright. You want any help?" I offered.

"No thank you, I'm fine. I'm almost done with our project. How about you take a break? You have been working hard lately," Tech suggested.

"Sure. The others are probably awake by now so I might as well watch some TV" I agreed.

Tech waved and turned back to what he was doing. I walked back to the living room and saw that Ace and the others were awake.

"Morning Ace," I greeted as I walked past him, earning a wave in response before I sat down on the couch and grabbed the remote, prompting Daniel to storm over and rudely snatch it out of my hand.

"Hey! What the fuck are you doing?!" I exclaimed out of irritation.

"Not so fast bub. I'm going to watch TV, so how about you get off the couch," Daniel snapped at me.

"Oh really? And let me guess, you're going to watch Misty Breeze talk about the weather again?" I asked pointedly.

"Yes I am. So how about you leave and let me have my alone time with the fabulous Misty Breeze," Daniel said, sighing happily at the last part of his sentence.

"Oh for the love of...fine Romeo, I'll let you have the TV then," I said in slight exasperation as I got up and walked over to see Ace.

"Hey Doc, I see Danny kicked you off the couch again," Ace said.

"Yep, he booted me off so he can watch Misty Breeze again. I honestly still don't understand what the hell he sees in her. Misty Breeze is really unpleasant to her co-workers, and just about anyone who's met her hates her, frankly," I grumbled.

"I know what you mean," Ace agreed and we heard Daniel yell in frustration.

"Oh son of a bitch, we lost the fucking signal! Now I'm going to miss Misty Breeze!" Daniel complained angrily.

"How can you stand that woman? She's so..." Lexi started to say.

"Egotistical?" I added.

"Exactly," Lexi agreed.

"Oh please you two. You're just jealous that she's more popular then you," Daniel retorted snidely.

"Yeah Danny, I'm sure that's the reason," I muttered sarcastically, then I turned to Ace and said, "Okay Ace, I'm going up to the roof to check the satellite dish to see what the problem is. In the meantime, you get Tech and Slam and meet me up on the roof."

"Sure thing Ethan," Ace said, and I left the kitchen and made my way up to the roof. When I opened the hatch, I had to cover my face from the heavy winds and harsh rain. I looked at the satellite dish and saw that it had been toppled over. I let out a groan and contacted Tech on my wrist communicator.

"Tech, this is Ethan, do you copy?" I asked.

"I can hear you Ethan, and so can Slam and Ace. So, what's the condition of the satellite?" Tech asked me.

"A lightning bolt must have struck it cause the base is completely broken and the dish has toppled over. So, I'm going to need your, Ace's, and Slam's help on this," I informed.

"We're just about to come up now, so you won't have to wait long," Tech said as the hatch opened and Tech, Ace, and Slam climbed up and went over to me.

Ace looked at the satellite, whistled, and looked at me, saying, "Damn Ethan, you weren't kidding when you said you needed our help. So what's the plan Doc?"

"Okay, here's what we do. Slam, you will lift up the satellite dish and the two of us will hold it upright while Ace uses his optic vision to weld the broken halves together. As for you Tech, you use your scanner to see if the signal is up and running. Alright, is everyone okay with the plan?" I asked and everyone nodded to me.

Slam walked over to the dish, grabbed it, and forced it up off the edge and to the side it broke from. With a grunt of effort, he lifted up the dish to the base and held it there. Using my power of elasticity, I stretched my torso and coiled my body around the base of the dish and then I stretched my arms in different directions to wrap them around the building for extra stability. After the broken halves were brought together, Tech spoke.

"That's it: Now!" Tech gave the word while he was looking at his scanner, prompting Ace to take his cue by welding the two halves together, making sure not to hit me by accident.

"There we go. That oughta keep Danny from complaining," Ace said once he was done blasting away at the metal. I uncoiled myself from the building and the dish before my body retracted back to normal. Slam let go of the dish, walked over to the ledge of the roof and sat down to take a breather.

"That's it, we're done. Now, was that so hard?" Tech remarked slyly with open arms.

"Smartass," I said with a playful glare.

"Thanks a lot Slam, Ethan," Daniel said irritably, opening the hatch and knocking Slam off the roof in the process. He added, "Just in time for me to miss my favorite TV personality of all time, Misty Breeze."

Ace, Tech, and I didn't care about that as we frantically ran over to the ledge to see if Slam had grabbed on to something.

"Danny!" Ace yelled at him, trying to tell his friend what had just happened.

"What!" Daniel shouted back to him, not caring about what we were doing.

The three of us peered over the ledge and I let out a breath of relief when I saw that Lexi and Rev were bringing him back to the roof.

"I break more nails picking up after you guys," Lexi said, riding on Slam's back as Rev was carrying them both, running up the side of the building.

Once the three of them made it to the roof, Slam stormed over to Daniel, got into his face with a glare, and grumbled something to him. Even I didn't have to be a translator to know that what he said was either an insult or a threat.

"Such language," Daniel answered back casually and quacked to a different part of the roof.

Suddenly, we heard screaming and all seven of us looked up to see a woman with turquoise hair landing on the satellite dish. She grabbed the side of the dish, hanging on to the edge for dear life.

"Misty Breeze," Daniel squealed with a loving expression on his face and I could've sworn I saw cartoon hearts form in his eyes.

"Don't just stand there you dumbasses, get me the fuck down from here!" Misty shouted irritably as she slipped and started falling again.

I stretched my arm out like a rubber band and coiled it around her waist before lowering her to the ground and retracting it back to normal. Misty brushed herself off as Daniel strutted over.

"I'm your biggest fan. Danger Duck at your service, hot stuff," Daniel introduced while Misty was striking a pose.

"Whatever, just don't get too close," Misty snapped at him.

"So Miss Breeze, how did you wind up here like that?" I asked her politely.

"If you must know, we were about to broadcast the weather at City Hall Plaza when my useless assistant sent a tornado after me and the next thing I know, I'm here with Danger Dork and you, Mr. Brainiac," Misty replied with no gratitude whatsoever. I glared at her for the "Mr. Brainiac" comment.

"You heard her Loonatics, we better get over there, stat. Let's jet," Ace said. Daniel escorted Misty to the street where she could find a taxi home while we headed to the hanger, where we put on our jet packs (except for Rev), and took off to City Hall Plaza.

"We're coming up on City Hall Plaza now," Ace informed us a few minutes later.

"I just don't get it, who the hell would ever want to hurt the lovely Misty Breeze?" Daniel questioned, looking smitten.

"Anyone who's ever met her," Lexi said in slight irritation.

"Jealous?" Daniel asked and Lexi glared at him.

"We're superheros Danny, we get enough attention as it is. On the bright side, at least nobody recognizes us when we're not wearing our suits," I pitched in helpfully.

"Loonatics," Zadavia announced when her image suddenly appeared on several television screens that were on the sides of buildings as we continued flying, " there have been many reports of strange weather phenomenon materializing all over the West Coast."

"No offense Zadavia, but isn't monitoring the weather more of a job for-" Ace started to say until he got cut off.

"Misty Breeze?" Daniel piped up.

"Not this kind of weather, you'll see what I mean when you get there. You better move quickly Loonatics, Zadavia out," Zadavia said, and her image disconnected.

Once we had arrived at our destination, the weather had calmed down somewhat. We saw a news van that was turned over on it's side as we landed. Slam grabbed the side of the van and lifted it, causing a dark skinned man that was wearing a green suit and yellow shades to fall out. From what I could tell, he didn't appeared to be injured, but he seemed to be in shock.

"Sorry," Slam mumbled sheepishly.

"Paula...assistant...script...Misty...wet hair...crazy weather...storm...Misty gone!" The man babbled in hysterics.

"Eh, I'm gonna need more words there, Doc. How about some adjectives or verbs?" Ace quipped.

"Here's a verb for you Ace, look!" Lexi cried out in alarm, pointing to the top of City Hall.

Floating on top of the building in a glowing oval that was surrounded by lightning and dark clouds, was a blue skinned woman with purple hair and glowing purple eyes that was wearing a purple dress.

"Sorry Loonatics, but today's story is all about me, so back the fuck off! Cloud creatures, put these heroes in a fog!" the woman shouted as lighting crackled around her and she raised her arms.

"Oh fuck! That's her, that's Paula!" the man exclaimed in terror just before he ran for his life.

"Amazing!" Tech and I cried out in awe as large titans made out of dark purple clouds materialized around us.

"Was this in the forecast?" Ace quipped as we all went back to back.

"Ooooh, scary clouds. What the fuck are you assholes going to do? Stop us from getting a tan?" Daniel questioned sarcastically, looking unimpressed.

Apparently, one of the monsters didn't like that and it grabbed Daniel tightly around his torso, causing him to choke out, "Or maybe stop us from breathing!"

"Okay, what's the plan Chief?" Tech asked Ace while I kept the monsters in my line of sight.

"Kick some cloud!" Ace declared as he jumped up to a cloud creature and kicked its face off, but just as he was about to land, the monster swiftly grabbed Ace's foot and held him high.

"Hey asshole, watch the foot, it's lucky!" Ace protested while he was struggling to escape.

Slam suddenly came running up and bit through the creature's arm, forcing it to release Ace, who fell to the ground. Just as Slam charged at another cloud creature, one suddenly tackled him from the side.

"Now, here's something you don't see on a sunny day. I may be wrong, but it looks like they're alive. How can that be? Clouds are just for making rain, not for striking terror in the hearts of the city," Rev rambled while he was running around a cloud creature, and it slammed its fist into the ground, tripping Rev.

"Shit, how the hell are we supposed to kill these damn things?! They're like fucking cockroaches! No matter what we hit them with, they just keep coming back!" I exclaimed while I slashed a monster with my bladed arms, jumped up, formed my feet into anvils and destroyed another monster by landing on it. I was horrified when within seconds the monster reformed and it started swiping at me.

"Well, when someone comes up with a better idea, let me know! Present for you asshole, via duck mail!" Daniel declared, shooting an egg through the cloud creature's head to make it let go of him, only he was shocked when it didn't cause any damage at all.

Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, heavy purple fog came out of nowhere and I couldn't see anything. I felt something bump into me and I impulsively did a roundhouse kick.

"Holy Shit! Ethan, it's Tech!" Tech exclaimed in panic as he ducked to prevent himself from getting hit.

"Oh fuck! Sorry about that, Tech!" I apologized sheepishly and before Tech could say anything, we were slapped away by a cloud creature and we crashed to the ground, Tech landing on me, which knocked the breath out of me.

"Tech...get the...fuck...off me," I choked out and Tech quickly got up.

"Damn, you okay Ethan?" Tech asked as I was getting up.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," I reassured, and then I felt a hot agonizing sensation on my ass. Tech and I leaped up out of the fog, me clutching my ass and Tech clutching his tail, the two of us howling in pain from getting shot by something.

"Argh, son of a bitch! Ace, you just shot me in the ass and shot Tech's tail!" I exclaimed in agony.

"Oh shit, sorry about that, fellas!" Ace yelled sheepishly.

"Ace, my internal radar can't distinguish what's cloud creature and what's plain old fog and it's getting really hard to avoid their gri-ack!" Rev gagged out the last part when he was grabbed rather roughly by a cloud creature and was yanked away.

"Fuck! Slam, help him out!" Ace cried out.

"...you bet!" Slam grunted but I was only able to decipher the last part of what he said. Slam spun up in a tornado and sucked up the fog, revealing the cloud creatures that were previously hidden, and he body-checked into a monster the was attacking Ace, sending it flying.

"Slam 1, cloud none," Ace remarked with a grin.

"Clouds of thunder, destroy them!" I heard Paula cry out in anger.

I met up with Lexi as I was back flipping a few times and when I saw a fire hydrant, I perked up.

"Lex, I have an idea! Use your Brain Blast on that fire hydrant!" I instructed.

Lexi complied by shooting the hydrant, and water erupted straight into the monster that was approaching us, making it let out a cry of pain as it got bigger.

"Clouds absorb water! And to think I only got a B in science. Good thinking Ethan," Lexi praised me as Ace walked over to us.

"That's great fellas, but are you sure you want to make them bigger?" Ace asked with an arched eyebrow as he watched the monster grew until it formed into a harmless cloud and it started raining.

"Whoa," Lexi said in awe when the cloud dissolved after it was done raining, and Rev came running up to us, looking really impressed.

"Oh! I wanna try that, I wanna try that! Let me try that! Here I go!" Rev exclaimed in excitement while he was running in place and clapping his hands like a child in a candy store. Then, Rev ran to a large fountain and splashed a mountain of water into a cloud monster's face, causing it to grow and evaporate.

Ace ran over to a statue that was spouting water and he blasted it, sending water crashing into a monster.

"And me without my slicker," Ace quipped as the monster evaporated.

I was backing up as three cloud monsters were approaching me menacingly. I grinned when I saw another fire hydrant.

"Come on assholes, one at a time! There's plenty of me to go around!" I taunted as I slashed the hydrant in half with my bladed arm and stretched and formed my torso into a water slide, directing the water to the monsters where they all grew and evaporated. Once that was done, I formed my body back to normal and regrouped with Tech.

"Water egg, water egg. Please God, be a water egg," Daniel chanted as he formed an egg and he shoved it into the monster's mouth, forcing it to let go of him as it expanded until it exploded into an orange liquid, and when Daniel tasted the liquid, he was pleasantly surprised.

"Hm...orange juice works too," Daniel commented, and Paula showed how unhappy she was at this turn of events by shooting a lighting bolt at Daniel, knocking him into the air until he landed in Slam's arms.

"Fucking duck! You may have won this round Loonatics, but I'm the star here!" Paula exclaimed in displeasure and she pointed at a terrified cameraman that was next to her, "You, keep that camera pointed at me, I've got breaking news! Hear me Acmetropolis, I am Weathervane! And today's forecast calls for a 100% chance of destruction!"

Weathervane laughed as she launched lightning bolts at the seven of us and we frantically dodged them to prevent getting hit.

"Here's a newsflash for you Loonatics, and its a real shock!" Weathervane declared before she fired a giant bolt of lightning at us.

Tech and I let out a cry of alarm, and we pushed a button on our jet packs, causing lightning rods to appear, and we screamed in agony when the lightning bolt struck us until we dissolved into groaning piles of dust.

"Nice lightning rods fellas, that's definitely gonna earn you two some vacation time," Ace praised us as we reformed.

"Can we take it right now?" Tech and I groaned in pain as we raised our index fingers.

"Well, let me think about it; yes, no, yes, no!" Ace declared and I shot a withered glare at him for being a smartass.

"All the elements are at my command! I don't need to report the story, I am the story! Make sure you get this, It'll make everyone forget about Misty Breeze!" Weathervane shouted at the cameraman.

"Forget about Misty Breeze? Why I'd sooner forget, well...what's her name here," Daniel said, motioning to Lexi, and I winced when she looked highly offended, knowing that Daniel was going to get a serious ass whooping later for that comment.

 _"Shit, nice knowing you Daniel,"_ I thought as I looked back up at Weathervane, who seemed to be doing something.

"Ahhh! Time for you all to be gone with the wind!" Weathervane declared as she was waving her hands, and the seven of us let out noises of panic when the wind picked up roughly and we were sucked into a tornado.

Ace managed to free himself by grabbing a streetlight, and Slam was thrown into a wall. Daniel tried to quack out of the tornado, only to accidentally wind up in a TV screen.

"Look mommy, I'm on TV..." Daniel groaned out dizzily while his face was pressed up against the glass.

"You're on Slam!" Ace called out to Slam, who nodded and started spinning into a big tornado, while Lexi, Rev, Tech, and I were still being flung around in the tornado that Weathervane summoned.

"Ohhhh shhhiiiitttt, gonna hurl!" I exclaimed in distress while Ace shot his grappling gun at Lexi and pulled her to safety by her waist.

"Not liking this!" Rev yelled while Tech was screaming in terror.

Thinking fast, I stretched one arm and coiled it around Rev and Tech's waists, then I stretched and coiled my other arm at a streetlight and yanked us to safety.

"I was gonna save them next," Ace remarked with a grin while my arms retracted back to normal.

"Heh, I got impatient," I quipped with a wink.

Once we all regrouped (including Daniel, who quacked out of the TV), we watched as Slam directed the tornado to a construction site and he dispersed it by having the tornado crashing into the unfinished building. Once Slam was done, everyone, including bystanders that were nearby, cheered and Slam raised his arms in victory.

"Those bastards defeated my clouds, my lightning, and my tornado! But, can they defeat all of them at once?! I release all of the elements upon you, Acmetropolis!" Weathervane declared as she raised her arms and lightning struck buildings and a railway track, forcing the train to stop as the last car dangled over the edge of the lightning-damaged track.

"Bring me Misty Breeze or start building an ark!" Weathervane threatened as we took off flying to the train.

"Fuck! Move it Loonatics, let's get to that monorail!" Ace ordered while we were fast approaching the train and I could see the people in the last car screaming in terror.

Tech and I looked at each other, nodded and our hands started glowing green and sliver. While Tech was at the bottom, I flew over to the track and the two of us used our magnetic abilities to hold the train upright while Slam was lifting the last car and Ace and Lexi were getting rid of debris. Once Slam managed to carry the train across, it started moving fast towards my position, forcing me to let out a cry of alarm as I held out my hands and the train hit me. Slam and I yelled in pain while our feet were screeching across the tracks until the train came to a stop. We let out sighs of relief while Slam grabbed one of his feet and blew on it.

"Heh, that wasn't so bad...wait, what the fuck is that smell?" I questioned when I smelled smoke, and when I looked down, I started yelping and crying out in panic when I saw smoke coming off my feet.

"Oh fuck me! Fire! My biscuits are burning! Someone help!" I cried out in alarm and pain, hopping from one foot to the next repeatedly, and Rev ran out of sight and quickly returned with a bucket of water.

"Hang on Ethan, I'll save you!" Rev declared and before I could stop him, he threw the water in my face, leaving me all soaked and miserable.

"Thanks Rev...I needed that," I grumbled sarcastically and Rev smiled sheepishly in response.

Ace walked up to the train doors and they opened, prompting him to quip, "So, who ordered the Acme heroes?"

The passengers cheered in response and just when we were about to leave, I heard a strange comment from an elderly woman that was sitting in one of the seats.

"Oh, I knew his great-great-great grandfather," the woman stated and I shot her a look of confusion.

"I'm sorry ma'am, what did you say?" I questioned.

"Well I'll be, you must be Ethan Matthews. You have grown up into a fine young man. Your father Paul talked about you a lot. Where are my manners young man? My name is Emma Webster, but you may call me Granny," the woman introduced and I stared at her in shock.

"What...my Father...how did you..." I stuttered in disbelief and the woman merely winked at me in response.

Feeling creeped out, I immediately flew away from the train and met up with the others, wanting to forget about the bizarre encounter I had just had.

"Ethan, are you okay? You don't look so good," Tech asked in concern.

"I'm fine," I replied in a tone that ended the conversation and we all flew back to the plaza.

Once we made it back to the plaza, we looked up at the roof and Ace ordered, "Box her in! One of us at each side, go!"

Everyone nodded and we all flew up to confront Weathervane.

"Alright Weathervane, your forecast calls for-" Ace started to say confidently, only he was cut off when we only saw the cameraman.

"Oh shit! Wait, don't hurt me!" the man exclaimed in panic and frantically waving one of his hands.

"Ah crap, I didn't get to finish my line. Where'd Weathervane go?" Ace asked.

"I don't know, that psychotic bitch just flew up and vanished!" the man answered hysterically.

After we were done chatting with the cameraman, the seven of us left City Hall to see if we could track Weathervane and get people to safety. Once I was done making sure that no one nearby was hurt in the fighting, I met up with Ace and we flew over to Rev, who was using his GPS to survey the area.

"Hey Rev, does your radar show anybody else in danger?" I asked.

"Well, a lot of wet people, but no one in danger unless you count soggy underwear danger," Rev notified while we saw people wading through the streets and getting to shelter.

"We should evacuate the area," Ace said to the rest of us and Lexi looked at him in confusion.

"The whole area? Why?" Lexi questioned.

"I got a little feeling that something big is coming," Ace said ominously while he was looking out at the ocean. Slam rose up, blocked his view, and Zadavia's hologram appeared on the back of his jet pack.

"Suspicions confirmed, Ace," Zadavia agreed.

"Zadavia," Slam said as he looked over his right shoulder.

"There's an unnatural energy source brewing with intensity 35 miles off the West Coast. All efforts to contain Weathervane by the U.S. Navy have failed," Zadavia informed us before she disconnected and we all flew towards where Weathervane was at.

"With all this water, we could sure use a duck," Lexi pointed out while we were flying across the ocean.

"Yeah...speaking of ducks, where's Danny?" Ace questioned when he noticed that we were one team member short.

"Hold on, let me contact him," I chimed in and activated my com link.

"Danny, it's Ethan. What's your location?" I spoke in my com link.

"I'm on a personal mission," Daniel replied.

"Personal mission? What the hell are..." I trailed off and my eyes widened in horror and realization.

"Oh fuck me! Danny, I know what you're doing! Don't even think about fighting Weathervane on your own! Wait for backup, do you hear-" I started to lecture until I lost the transmission and I continued in disbelief, "He fucking hung up on me! C'mon, we need to back that idiot up before he gets himself killed for his stupid decision!"

Everyone nodded and we accelerated even faster until we met up with Daniel. I paled when I saw a large winged black and purple dragon that was hidden in a gigantic purple cloud.

"Daniel, what the hell are you doing?! Where's Weathervane?!" Lexi questioned.

"I hope that's not her," Ace said nervously as we all stared at the dragon in horror.

"Um, Ace, hate to break it to you, but I think that's Weathervane. Fuck Danny, what the hell did you do to piss her off so much?!" I asked incredulously.

Before Daniel could reply, the dragon roared and it shot out lightning from its mouth, forcing us to move out of the way as the dragon took off to the city.

"Seriously, who ever heard of a dragon that shoots purple lightning?" I quipped to try and lighten the mood, but nobody paid attention.

"The dragon's heading back to Acmetropolis!" Lexi informed us in alarm and we all chased after the monster.

The first thing the dragon did was shoot down a building and then it opened fire on a nearby dock, scaring the hell out of two fishermen that frantically ran away screaming.

 _"Jesus, we need to stop that monster before someone gets killed,"_ I thought while the dragon was moving deeper into the city and still shooting lightning everywhere.

The dragon shot a metal tower that was on the top of a building and when it wobbled, the supports broke. My eyes widened in horror when it tipped over and started falling to the streets where there were people panicking and running in terror.

"Oh fuck me! Tech, team up!" I exclaimed in panic and he nodded in response.

Our hands glowed green and sliver and we managed to stop the tower from turning people into a bloody and gory mess, then we gritted our teeth and used our magnetic abilities to crush the tower into a ball and chuck it at the dragon. I threw up my hands in disbelief when it sucked the hunk of metal into its body and then roared at us.

"Are you fucking shitting me?! How the hell is that even fair?!" I yelled in frustration as Tech and I flew away to prevent ourselves from getting shot at and we rallied up with Ace and Lexi, on a nearby roof.

"A busted hydrant is not going to take that thing out," Lexi stated as Rev and Daniel met up with the rest of us.

"Hey, uh, Tech, Ethan, I don't suppose you fellas would have a really big hairdryer?" Ace questioned us.

"Um, heh. If you're thinking of evaporating that thing, it will take a hairdryer about, oh, a mile wide," Tech replied while stretching his arms out to empathize his explanation.

"And even though we can invent one, we just don't have that amount of time to do it," I remarked.

"Well that's just fucking perfect. Hey Rev, any idea where we can find the hottest spot within a 100 miles of California?" Ace asked Rev, who perked up and nodded.

"Oh baby, do I have a fiery hotspot for you guys! This is gonna burn the hair off you if you get too close! Man, this place is scorching!" Rev answered enthusiastically.

"Okay, that's good, now the fun part is finding something or someone to lure Weathervane away from the city." I said thoughtfully, then Tech, Ace, Lexi, Rev, Slam, and I all stared at Daniel, who looked back nervously.

"Why the hell is everyone looking at me like that? Let me guess...me again," Daniel muttered with an unamused expression.

"Why not? You do seem to have a habit of pissing off Weathervane," I remarked bluntly and the others chuckled much to Daniel's displeasure.

"Ha ha. Very funny, let's all laugh at the duck," Daniel grumbled in irritation.

* * *

After we headed back to the Loonatics Tower, Tech and I quickly developed a bomb that would cause a seismic eruption in the volcano that was on the island that Rev told us about, then Tech and I took the Porta-lab and headed to the island with Ace, Lexi, and Slam flying beside us. Rev and Daniel headed toward Weathervane to lure her to us.

"Tech, Ethan, is this gonna work?" Ace questioned.

"If the lava depth charge is in sync with the timing mechanism, there should be enough combustion to-" I started to explain, but I got cut off.

"English, Ethan!" Ace interrupted.

"Okay, let me dumb it down for you. Basically, it should go boom, happy?" I remarked dryly as we were landing on the island.

"That's all we needed. And that will activate the volcano?" Ace asked when we landed on the ground.

"Your guess is as good as ours," Tech said.

"Hey guys, it's show time," Lexi told us, and right when Tech and I opened the hatch, the island started shaking.

When we heard the Storm Dragon roaring in fury, I commented, "Sounds like Daniel and Rev's got Weathervane's attention. Let's get the bomb out of the Porta-lab."

Tech and I grabbed the bomb, hefted it out of the Porta-lab, and carefully placed it down onto the ground, then we looked at Slam who was confused as to why we were staring at him.

"Slam can withstand the heat better than any of us. Take this up there and when I say now, push this red button and throw it into the volcano, got it? Now," Tech instructed and Slam nodded.

"Yeah," Slam grunted and to our horror, he pushed the red button.

"Slam, no!" Lexi, Tech, and I cried out in horror.

"Detonation in 30 seconds," the computerized voice on the bomb said and I started gripping my head in distress.

"Dammit Slam! Not 'now' now, 'now' later!" I exclaimed incredulously and when Slam grabbed the red button and ripped it out of the bomb, I continued. " Fucking hell Slam, that's not gonna help!"

"17...16...15," the voice on the bomb counted down.

"For God's sake Slam, just get it up there, now!" Ace ordered, not wanting the bomb to decorate the palm trees around us with our blood and guts.

Slam picked up the bomb as his eyes started glowing purple and he babbled something at us angrily until he spun over in the direction of the volcano. I didn't have to be a translator to know that he was lecturing us to be more specific next time.

We all waited and watched as Slam make it to the top of the volcano, covered his face with his arm, then tossed the bomb into the volcano and left quickly as Rev, Daniel, and Weathervane headed to the top of the volcano. Once Rev reached the top, Daniel let go of the bar that he was holding onto and waited to quack away until Weathervane was close enough. Suddenly, lava came flying out and hit the dragon, making it roar out in agony as it evaporated. More lava came pouring out of the volcano and started heading to the Porta-lab.

"Oh shit, our Porta-lab! Ethan and I just built her!" Tech yelled in panic while I stared in horror.

"Oh Jesus, we gotta save her!" I cried out in distress.

"Forget the Porta-lab you two, let's jet!" Ace exclaimed and Tech and I were forced to leave our creation where it was soon destroyed by the lava.

"Our precious Porta-lab...destroyed! Fuck! She never harmed anyone!" I shouted in despair.

"She was only a day old!" Tech wailed in grief.

"Damn, those two really need to get out more," Ace commented in slight disbelief while we were flying back to the city.

Once we made it back to the city, we headed to City Hall Plaza where there was a news van and the cameraman was setting up his equipment.

"I'm picking up Zadavia's signal," Lexi informed us as we landed beside the van. Zadavia's face appeared on a screen that was on the side of the van.

"There are no traces left of the Storm Dragon, but what happened to Weathervane remains a mystery. We can only assume she escaped. Good work Loonatics, Zadavia-" Zadavia said, and got cut off when Misty Breeze saw her, stormed over, and shut off the screen.

"Who the fuck was that?! I am the only pretty face on this channel!" Misty demanded.

"Misty, this is my chance," Daniel stated in excitement and I rolled my eyes and decided to stop paying attention.

As I looked away, I saw the railway track where we had saved the train car full of people. Before I knew it, my thoughts went back to that elderly woman, realizing that her name and appearance matched that Loony Tunes character and that she somehow knew who I am. But what I couldn't get out of my head, is that she knew my father, Paul.

 _"Is that woman really Granny from Loony Tunes? How the hell is she still alive? And how does she know my Father? Dad disappeared in 1994 while his close friend and NBA star Michael Jordan was doing horribly at Baseball. Did my dad wind up here somehow? Did I travel not only in time, but in another dimension? Argh! So many questions and I have no answers!"_ I thought in frustration.

I was shaken out of my thoughts when I heard a truck backing up. I looked to see Misty getting buried by a mountain of Misty Breeze fan merchandise and I looked at Ace questionably.

"Ace, what the hell am I seeing right now?" I asked in confusion.

"Eh, Danny's having Misty Breeze sign autographs, so how about we leave the two lovebirds alone," Ace explained.

Nodding, I left with the others, but I didn't care about what Daniel was doing. My Father had been missing since I was 5 years old and now I possibly had a lead as to what had happened to him.

I felt hope because wanted to discover my father's fate so I could finally find closure and move on.

 _"I will find out what happened to you Dad, I swear it,"_ I thought in determination as we headed back home.

* * *

A/n Another chapter done. Now, I have been laying hints about what happened to Paul Matthews, and if you can guess his fate correctly on the first try, then excellent work. Let me know your answer about what happened to Ethan's father in the reviews.


	7. Going Underground

Loonatics Tower, Acmetropolis, California, October 15, 2772.

I got up out of bed and performed my morning routine. Then I put on my suit, gloves, belt, and boots, and went into the hanger to work on a new vehicle called the Mobile Magma Mover.

 _"Hmm...just need to make these last few adjustments,"_ I thought as I worked on the wiring in the engine.

"Hey, Ethan!" A voice called out, startling me and causing me to jump, hitting my head on the underside of the hood of the car.

"Yeow! Motherfucker!" I shouted in pain and I looked to see who called my name while I rubbed my head.

"Oh shit! Sorry Ethan," Lexi apologized sheepishly while Daniel stood next to her, roaring with laughter.

"Lexi? Danny? Why are you two bothering me?" I questioned in confusion.

"Well, the other guys are wanting some Chinese takeout and I was wondering if you wanted to come along," Lexi offered.

"Well...sure, I guess. But what about the new invention that Tech and I are working on?" I inquired.

"You don't need to worry about that. Tech can work on it while you're gone," Lexi reassured.

"Okay. Well, if we are going to get takeout, we might want to wear something else so that we don't get mobbed by fans," I suggested, and Lexi nodded in agreement.

"Oh please, why should we look inconspicuous? We should be proud to wear our suits," Daniel stated arrogantly.

"Look Danny, you may be okay with getting mobbed by fans and the press, but I'm not. I'd rather we get to leave the tower and not get swarmed by people who'll shove autographs and cameras into our faces, invading our personal space and privacy," I said in slight irritation.

"He's got a point, Daniel," Lexi agreed.

"Fine, let's just go to New Chinatown already," Daniel snapped impatiently.

Shooting Daniel a quick glare for his rude comment, I walked back to my room, changed out of my team uniform, and put on a different set of clothing.

Looking into the mirror, I could see that my skin was back to it's normal caucasian tone and my hair had returned to blonde again, and black shades covered my green eyes. I was wearing a hooded red vest, a gray button-up collared shirt tucked into dark blue cargo pants, and dark brown laced up work shoes.

Checking myself in the mirror one last time, I nodded and walked out of my room.

"Done?" Lexi asked, wearing a green sports jacket, blue jeans, and sneakers, her fur color back to yellow.

"Yeah," I said.

"Finally, let's go already!" Daniel exclaimed, wearing a gray jeans jacket over a white t-shirt, black jeans, and Converse sneakers.

"Alright we're going, chill the fuck out! You know Danny, you ever heard the meaning of the word patience?" I questioned as we were heading to the elevator.

"Screw you," Daniel retorted.

* * *

Once we arrived at New Chinatown, we headed in to our favorite restaurant. We placed our order and after a short wait, we took our food and left the building.

"Okay, we got the food, can we go back to H.Q. now?" Daniel asked as we walked outside.

"Chill Danny, it's not a trip to New Chinatown without getting a little takeout," Lexi remarked.

"Frankly, I'm a little uncomfortable in a place where duck in orange sauce is the dinner entree. If anyone starts drooling, I'm quacking out of here," Daniel complained, and I grinned when I saw people in a green and yellow dragon costume pass us by on the street.

"Hey Danny, check it out, It's your ex-girlfriend," I teased as I nudged him and busted out into laughter.

"Ha ha, very funny asswipe," Daniel grumbled unamusingly while a purple dragon costume and a juggler passed us.

"Shh! Do you hear that?" Lexi questioned.

"How can we hear anything with this racket?! You'd have to have super hearing to-" Daniel started to say, and when he saw Lexi smiling smugly at him, he continued, "Oh, right."

"C'mon, let's check it out," Lexi stated.

"Excuse me dammit, you're not the boss of me, Missy. Ace is technically the boss but since he isn't here, you'll just assume you'll be in charge? If anybodies gonna lead, it's gonna be me," Daniel declared arrogantly as he walked away.

Suddenly the ground and the buildings started shaking, and many people, including Lexi and myself yelled in slight panic as we tried to plant our feet firmly on the pavement to prevent ourselves from getting knocked to the ground.

"Ohhh Shhhiiittt, earthquake! Hold on to something!" I cried out in alarm, and once the shaking stopped, Lexi and I let out a sigh of relief.

"Anybody order duck in orange sauce?" Daniel grumbled in irritation as he walked over, covered in orange sauce dripping out of a box on his head.

Then another shake began, even stronger then the last one, and we started stumbling again. Then my eyes widened in horror when I saw the ground starting to crack.

Daniel stumbled backwards and bumped into people until a food cart came out of nowhere and he got splattered again. I would've found that funny if the ground wasn't opening up around us. Then the shaking stopped.

"Well, aren't you saucy," Lexi quipped as we walked over.

"You know, I am pretty tasty," Daniel remarked as he wiped off the orange sauce.

"We'll be fine. We're in California, so quakes like this happen all the time, but damn that was a big one. There must be some serious seismic activity that's occurring underground," I theorized just as a new quake started.

"Aftershock!" Lexi exclaimed in alarm and I noticed that something was wrong when Daniel and the ground started rising.

"Are you guys getting shorter, or am I getting taller?!" Daniel questioned.

"You keep dreaming, Danny. Incoming!" Lexi pointed out when she spotted another food cart speeding toward Daniel's direction.

"Not again!" Daniel yelled in alarm, quacked out of the way, and appeared next to us.

The three of us ducked and the food cart went flying over our heads, crashing into the pavement nearby.

"Um, what's wrong with this picture?" Lexi questioned in shock as another box of Chinese food splattered onto Daniel's head, causing him to roll his eyes. As he knocked the box off, Lexi and I kept stared around us in disbelief as we realized that the entire New Chinatown district kept rising up into a mountain that then sucked all of New Chinatown down inside.

"Okay, either I've been working too hard lately and I'm delirious, or New Chinatown has sunk to a whole new low," I quipped to try to lighten the mood. Nobody laughed as we quickly headed back to the tower to notify Ace and the others.

* * *

After we made it back to the tower, Lexi, Daniel, and I changed back into our team uniforms, gathered the others to the conference room, and we discussed the situation.

"This mountain just grew out of nowhere? Just like that?" Ace questioned skeptically as he pointed at the object in question that was on the screen while the rest of us were sitting in our respective seats.

"I'm pretty certain it wasn't there before," Daniel stated sarcastically.

"Yeah, weird, huh? But now we can go skiing anytime we want whenever we head to New Chinatown. And if we work up an appetite on the slopes, we can get some Chinese takeout on the way down! Man, Acmetropolis has everything!" Rev exclaimed in excitement as Tech walked in with a hovering platform that had a model of New Chinatown.

"Ethan and I have gone over it again and again, but we can't figure out what could have caused that level of geological instability," Tech said as he pushed the model to where we could see it.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe something like a giant meteor hitting the earth. Hmm? Ring a bell?" Daniel stated sarcastically, causing Tech and I to shoot a glare at him.

"Okay smartass, if you're done? Perhaps if we had more time to build a more detailed model. We did it during our break, it was a total rush job," I explained as the miniature train was moving.

"Tech, Ethan, the little elevated trains are actually running," Lexi commented, and when she checked her watch that built into the suit, she continued, " and on time."

"Okay, now normally when there's tectonic activity, the earth's crust moves like this," Tech explained as he pushed a button and the model started shaking.

"No matter how many variations Tech and I try, there's just no accounting for this," I declared as a large mound appeared, and Slam stuck his finger into the mound and started licking his finger like it was covered with frosting.

"Chocolate," Slam said gleefully while he was chewing.

"Uh, Slam, I believe that's mud you're eating," Ace pointed out in disgust.

"Actually, we ran out of soil, so we used hot fudge," Tech admitted, and Lexi grabbed a handful of fudge and ate it.

"With nuts," Lexi informed us after she swallowed, and Zadavia's hologram appeared on the conference table.

"Speaking of nuts, this attack was caused by one Thaddeus Dare," Zadavia informed us as two monitors on either side of her showed an image of a older man with gray hair and glasses.

"Thaddeus Dare? Shit, nuts is an understatement. The guy is completely fucking insane," I stated and Tech nodded in agreement.

"A reclusive and rather old scientist, but brilliant nonetheless. Dare was convinced that one day, he would control all forms of rock," Zadavia stated as images of a 3rd picture of Dare, inventions he was working on, and an old reel of the project that Zadavia was talking about appeared.

"Say wha-?! Control rock? Hello, wacko party of one," Daniel remarked while making a coo-coo gesture.

"He was hideously disfigured when the meteor crashed. He went crazy and his rock experiments grew more reckless. He was finally banished by the scientific community and he disappeared," Zadavia explained.

"Let me guess, a guy that into rocks went underground, right?" Ace asked.

"Deep underground. I believe he's preparing to take his revenge on the world that rejected him, and he may have found the ultimate means," Zadavia said, and she showed us Dare that had robotic prosthetics on his skull, his arm, and a glowing green rock that had a dragon imprint on it.

"The Jade Serpent Crystal," Tech said in realization.

"Yes, this crystal that was housed in the science tower that sank underground today," Zadavia informed us, showing us pictures of the building in question and several other buildings sinking into the earth.

"What's so special about this nugget?" Ace asked.

"It is an ancient gem that has a unique atomic structure, said to contain untold energy. If Dr. Dare somehow harnesses the power of the crystal, there is no telling what he might do. You must find Dr. Dare and stop him, Zadavia out," Zadavia said seriously and her transmission stopped.

"All right gang, let's jet," Ace declared, and we all headed to the hanger.

* * *

"Tech, Ethan, this new toy of yours is a great way to beat traffic," Ace praised us as I tunneled us down in the Mobile Magma Mover.

"Ha ha, hell yeah!" Tech and I cheered out in excitement, then we proved just how much fun we were having with our new invention by me suddenly turning the steering wheel this way and that, causing the others (except for Tech) to cry out in alarm.

"For fuck's sake Ethan, quit doing that!" Daniel protested, looking like he was going to be ill.

"Don't worry, Tech and I have been working on our Mobile Magma Mover for a while now. We just needed a good excuse to take her for a spin. Good thing we almost got all the kinks worked out," I declared confidently with a laugh, and Daniel started looking nervous.

"I'll say...wait, did you say almost? Did he say almost?" Daniel questioned Lexi while we were all shaking a little due to the ship not having any shock absorbers.

"Guys, heads up!" Lexi pointed out as we entered an open cavern. To our shock, we saw buildings of the city that were hanging upside down from the ceiling.

"Holy shit...the city's upside down, or is it my stomach?" Daniel stated as he held his abdomen.

"So that's where the buildings went," Ace said seriously as we passed the buildings and the M.M.M. started to drill into a rock wall.

"Hang on, going down!" I declared as we tunneled down even further into the earth.

"And we're...how many miles beneath the earth's crust?" Daniel questioned nervously.

"Not to worry, this baby is built with an ultra-titanium double shielding. Trust me, nothing can stop her," Tech reassured, and suddenly the M.M.M stopped, causing me to slam my head against the controls.

"Argh...fuck...that hurt. What the hell?" I groaned out while I was rubbing my head.

"What was that?!" Daniel questioned.

"A lot of nuttin'," Ace stated.

"I don't understand, this baby should be able to smash through any kind of rock," Tech said in confusion while I was working the controls for a response.

"And what if the rock smashed back?" Lexi asked, sounding terrified.

"Wait, what?" I questioned in confusion and when I looked up, the blood drained from my face when I saw large monsters made of rock that had glowing markings on them.

"Oh fuck me!" I exclaimed in horror.

"Ethan, get us the fuck out of here!" Ace ordered nervously.

"Oh shit, the sudden stop must have short-circuited the engine," I stated anxiously.

"Hey uh, Ethan, could you reverse us outta this hole?" Ace asked in terror.

"Yeah, as in back up, now!" Daniel shouted desperately while I was frantically moving the controls

"Yeah, heh heh, I would if I could, so quit being backseat drivers!" I exclaimed in terror.

"No reverse?" Daniel asked hesitantly.

Suddenly, one of the rock monsters tore its three fingered hand into the ship and grabbed Lexi.

"Oh shit!" Tech exclaimed in horror at seeing one of his friends being taken.

"Guys...a little help?!" Lexi stated as she was being yanked out of the ship.

"It's got Lexi! Let's rock!" Ace declared as he opened the door and he, Rev, Daniel, and Slam left the ship.

"Tech, take over. I need to help," I stated and Tech nodded as I got up and quickly left the ship.

"Hey! Let go, Rockzilla!" I heard Lexi shout as I formed one of my hands into a hammer, quickly ran after the monster, and hit it's head as hard as I could, causing it to stop as a crack appeared on its head.

"Hey asshole, don't you know that's no way to treat a lady?" I remarked as I blocked its path.

Just as the monster was about to attack me, Daniel quacked to our location and shot eggs at it, forcing the monster to let go of Lexi, who landed at a safe distance.

"Thanks guys," Lexi said gratefully.

"Let's go!" Daniel declared and we separated to find new opponents.

"Oh, missed. So sorry, missed again. Oh, strike three, you're out!" Daniel taunted as he was quacking to avoid the monster's punches.

Slam was surrounded by two monsters that were approaching him menacingly from the front and back. Slam used a spinning tornado kick that sent the monster in front of him crashing into a wall, then he spun over to the monster behind him and blocked a double punch with his hands, picking it up and tossing it into the monster that was lodged in the wall, killing both of them instantly. Slam brushed the dust off his hands in a gloating fashion.

"Excuse me, hi, would you come this way please? Thank you so much! Hey, how about you come here as well, that's right!" Rev stated as he was luring seven monsters to him.

"What the?" Slam grunted when he heard something behind him, and turned around to see a much bigger rock monster break through the wall that was behind him, causing him to say, "Uh oh.".

Slam spun up again and body-checked the monster into the hole it created.

"Three egg omelet, coming up!" Daniel declared as he formed three eggs in his hands and shot them at the monster that he was fighting, knocking it over from the barrage.

 _"That's right dumb-asses, I'm right here,"_ I thought as I was standing at the edge of a cliff, waiting for the two monsters to attack me.

Suddenly, the monsters started charging at me with their arms raised, and I stretched my left arm like a rubber band, grabbed a stalactite, and reeled myself out of danger just in time for the monsters to run off the cliff and fall from the long height.

 _"Thank God for those Road Runner cartoons. Wile and his other coyote friend kept trying to catch the Road Runner, but they always fail and mostly fall off cliffs, get blown up, crushed, hit by semi trucks and trains, and crash head first into walls,"_ I thought as I let go of the pointy rock, landed, and ran back into the fight.

"Gather round guys, I know this is sudden and I'm sure you're wondering why I called this meeting," Rev started to say as he saw the seven monsters charging at him, and he zipped away, causing all of them to destroy each other as they tackled into themselves, and Rev added, "That's why!"

"Hey Lex, Ethan, you're up!" Daniel warned us, and we turned around to see a monster that was raising a fist, the two of us dodging when it tried to hit us.

"Don't you ever lighten up, asshole?" Lex questioned, and the monster answered by ripping out a piece of a stone column and chucking it at us.

"Shit, I guess not," I remarked as Lexi used her Brain Blast to destroy the projectile.

Meanwhile, Ace was trying to fend off a monster with his optic blasts, but it wasn't doing any good, so he moved to a safe distance and met up with Rev.

"Fast work Rev, I'm goin' after Slam!" Ace declared, and they separated.

Speaking of Slam, he had just punched his enemy through a wall and was about to land an aerial double fist attack, only to get swatted away and go crashing into a wall.

"I'm stuck!" Slam grunted as he opened his eyes, and got headbutted by the monster, causing him to be pushed even further into the wall. After a groan of discomfort, Slam was grabbed by the monster and it started crushing him by squeezing him tightly.

Lexi and I were still dodging punches that were being thrown at us and Lexi's eyes started glowing pink.

"You're getting on our nerves, you fucking prick...and you don't want to see us pissed," Lexi stated as she fired her Brain-blast at the roof, making stalactites fall and bury the monster in rubble.

"She warned you!" I exclaimed as we dodged a few boulders and moved to safety just in time for Daniel to quack to our location.

"You tell 'em, guys," Daniel praised, his eyes glowing like the rest of us.

Slam managed to break free by using his lightning, then he tore off the monster's arm and hit it hard, sending the monster crashing into a wall. Slam started laughing, only to stop when the monster smashed it's body to the wall next to it, a green glow appeared, and the monster pulled out it's stump to show Slam a brand new arm.

"Uh oh," Slam grunted.

With one swing, the monster destroyed the rock arm that Slam was holding, and Slam retaliated by chucking the rest of the old arm at the monster. The monster blocked the attack and returned the favor by slapping Slam into the air until the Tasmanian Devil crashed into the ground and slid a few feet. The monster took the opportunity to run over and grab Slam, smashing him into the ground a couple of times until Ace appeared.

"Yo, what's up rock? Drop the Devil and back away," Ace said while Slam opened his eyes.

Slam used his tornado power to break free and regrouped with Ace. Then the monster grabbed boulders and started tossing them, prompting Ace to blast them with his optic vision while Slam snatched a boulder and used it as a shield. Eventually, Slam's shield broke and he was pushed back by the rocks until he toppled over a cliff and fell.

"Slam!" Ace cried out in horror and fired a continuous beam of heat at the monster out of sheer rage.

The monster kept getting pushed back until it was sent flying off the cliff, and Ace ran over to look down at the bottom.

"Oh shit," Ace mumbled nervously when he saw the remains moving until he spotted Slam pushing a large boulder away.

"Hey ya Slam, are you okay?!" Ace called down to Slam in concern as his friend stood up and moved out of the rubble.

"Fucking peachy!" Slam grunted as he looked up at Ace.

"Crap, sorry about the whole dropping a rock monster on you, buddy," Ace apologized sheepishly with a look of embarrassment on his face.

Meanwhile, Lexi, Daniel, and I were surrounded as we kept backing up.

"Danny, any sign of Dr. Dare?" Lexi asked as she dodged a swipe.

"No, hey!" Daniel protested as he was grabbed and taken away.

Lexi fired a Brain Blast at one monster while I formed a fist into a spiked club and clobbered another monster as Daniel managed to quack away from the third monster's grip, and it opened it's hand to see a large egg that exploded, leaving only the monster's legs intact while Daniel appeared at a safe distance.

"Holy shit, I even impress myself. I've got to remember how to do that," Daniel mumbled under his breath, and his eyes widened when he saw a monster approaching. Seeing as how we weren't making much progress, Ace decided to contact Tech.

"Yo Tech, what do you got?" Ace asked into his com-link.

"The scanners are picking up a strange energy around these things. It's a high probability that they're being controlled by the Jade Serpent Crystal," Tech explained.

"The problem isn't what's controlling these fucking things, it's how we are going to stop them! Tech, I'm regrouping with you so that we can restart the engine!" I chimed in as I dodged a punch and quickly headed to the drill. Once I made it inside the drill, Tech walked over to a panel and opened it to show us a socket.

"This might work. Okay Ethan, If we can just reroute the power reserves to the front thrusters..." Tech trailed off and headed over to the console, grabbing a plug with an extension cord and walking over.

Tech went to plug in the cord, but It stopped just at the socket and Tech yanked the plug a few times to no avail.

"Goddamn fucking piece of shit, come on!" Tech complained in frustration as he shook the cord and grumbled, "Ugh...fine."

"Tech, let me do it," I chimed in as I walked over to him.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Ethan?" Tech asked me in concern.

"No, but better me than you, right?" I stated weakly as I took the plug out of Tech's hands and I looked at the socket.

 _"Oh Christ Ethan, what the fuck are you doing? I've gotta be out of my Goddamn mind,"_ I thought in disbelief as I cupped my right hand onto the plug. I flattened my index and middle fingers on my left hand, put them into the socket, and I braced myself for the world of pain that was coming.

I started howling in agony as the electrical current rushed through me and into the plug until I looked completely charred with bloodshot eyes, and I dissolved into a groaning pile of ashes.

"Ethan, are you okay?" Tech asked, looking worried after I slowly reformed.

"Yep...*cough*...never felt better...fucking hell, there's got to be a better and easier way to do this job," I groaned in pain as I stumbled to the controls with smoke still coming off me.

I sat down in the driver's seat, started up the drill, and hit the thrusters, the drill moving forward and destroying rock monsters as our other teammates quickly moved out of the way.

"Yeah, rock on! Yippee-ki-yay, motherfuckers!" I shouted in victory as the drill stopped, and everyone regrouped.

"So, what the hell were those things?" Lexi asked the one question that was on everyone's minds.

"Reminds me of some of the guys who keep calling you, except the rocks have more personalty," Daniel quipped and started laughing, only to let out a noise of pain when Lexi shot a brain blast at Daniel's ass for his smartass remark.

"Yow! Hey, watch the feathers!" Daniel protested while he clutched his ass.

"Those rock monsters must be the security guards around here, which means we must be close to Dare's lair," Ace theorized thoughtfully. Then an unknown voice rang out.

"You're not close, you're here. Just in time to witness the power of the Jade Serpent turn the entire world upside down," the voice of who I assumed to be Dare stated as more buildings came bursting through the ceiling.

"Tech, Ethan, what the fuck is going on?" Ace asked nervously.

"Told you he was a fucking nutcase! Let's get the hell out of here!" I exclaimed in alarm when I saw rubble starting to land everywhere.

Then a green glow appeared at the ground nearby as it cracked, and a throne rose up with Dare sitting on it.

"I hope you've enjoyed your visit down here, because it's become your permanent residence! In fact, all of humanity and anthro sapiens will reside underground and I will live in peace on the surface!" the madman declared.

"Are you shitting me, Doc?! That is the most craziest Goddamn thing I've ever heard of in my life!" Ace exclaimed incredulously.

"You won't be laughing when you're buried in stone, bunny!" Dare stated as he raised his staff, and the Jade Serpent Crystal that was on it started glowing.

Just when I thought that the situation couldn't get any worse, the staff shot a green light at us and the area around us started shaking as all seven of us shielded our eyes.

"Oh shit, take cover!" Ace exclaimed as we all fled inside the drill and braced ourselves while debris came tumbling down around us.

"Sayonara, Loonatics!" Dare said and laughed psychotically as the drill got buried by large boulders.

* * *

After a few moments, Slam used his strength to destroy a few boulders while I flowed into the shape of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and destroyed the rest of the blockage with a swing of my powerful tail.

"Damn, nice work fellas," Ace praised us as I melted and changed back into my human form.

"Anytime," Slam said as I gave a thumbs up.

"Okay, we've got to get to Acmetropolis before-" Ace started to say, only to be cut off when Zadavia appeared on the big screen of the console.

"Before there is no Acmetropolis or anything else. Dr. Dare is continuing to turn the whole world inside out, you must hurry. If you do not do something quickly, this madman will bury us all!" Zadavia exclaimed urgently, then the signal cut off.

"Okay, lets get this mover movin' before we lose power too," Ace declared as I went to the driver seat and started up the drill again.

I drove us up to the surface, busted us out of the ground, and stopped a few feet away, prompting Ace to leave the drill with his arms raised in victory.

"Nice drivin' Ethan, looks like we're..." Ace trailed off when he saw people running around frantically and grabbing any supplies that weren't buried, making him add, " a little late."

"It's Acmetropolis," Lexi observed in shock at seeing the entire city and the state of California turned into nothing more than a desert wasteland.

"And what's left of the United States...talk about an extreme makeover," Daniel remarked as he was looking around.

I saw police officers, National Guard troops and Red Cross volunteers getting injured people to any medical tents that were set up around us, but what caught my attention were two men fighting over a bottle of water. One of the men had a shotgun while the other man had a revolver.

"Let go jackass, this is mine!" one of the men yelled at the other.

"Fuck you dipshit, I found this first!" the second man retorted as he was trying to yank the bottle away.

"You better let go!" the first man demanded.

"Yeah, well this is mine, so what the fuck are you going to do about it?!" the second man dared the first one.

"Fuck you!" the first man roared out in fury before blasting the second man in the chest repeatedly and added, "Fuck! You! Fuck! You!"

People screamed in terror at the man punctuating his words with each blast from the shotgun. The onlookers ran from the brutality being displayed in front of them, and the man with the shotgun was tackled to the ground by a few cops and soldiers.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Daniel exclaimed in horror at the sight of someone being horrifically murdered over one stupid bottle of water.

 _"It hasn't even been ten seconds and already people are starting to kill each other out of sheer desperation. We need to find Dr. Dare and reverse this whole thing before more people die,"_ I thought grimly as I looked away and heard someone yelling for help.

I looked to my right and saw a female anthro red fox who was pinned by debris, prompting me to hurry over and see if I could get her free.

"Hey, are you hurt?" I questioned in concern, and the woman smiled in relief as I knelt down.

"You're with the Loonatics! Get me out of here, please!" the woman begged.

"Hold on, I'll have you out of here in a second," I assured as my body melted, and I flowed through the large rocks.

I reformed my body and morphed into the shape of a human-sized German Shepherd, freeing the woman by digging her out and carefully letting her lean on me as we moved to safety.

"There, you should be safe now," I informed the woman as I shifted back into my human form, causing the professionally dressed woman to look at me in awe.

"Fascinating...to alter your molecular structure in such a way so that you can reshape and change your form at will, it's incredible," the woman observed, and I looked at her in pleasant surprise.

"Well, it doesn't hurt but it feels like a nice work out. The way my abilities work is that I can alter my current physical form to either be elastic and malleable, or I can break my body down from a solid and reshape my form into any kind of matter, organic or otherwise," I explained, feeling excited to be talking to a fellow scientist.

"Well, I would love to hear more about it once you and your team are done reversing this calamity. Once you fix all of this, how about we meet up to compare notes," the woman offered professionally.

"Hey Ethan! Where are you?! We need to stop Dare!" Ace called out to me.

"Sorry miss, I have to go. My team needs me, but I would like that," I said shyly as I looked away awkwardly, feeling my heart racing due to my social anxiety.

"Well, I hope to see you again..." the woman trailed off, and that was my cue to introduce myself.

"Oh, sorry, my name is Ethan Matthews," I said as I shook her pawed hand.

"Pleasure to meet you Mr. Matthews, my name is Sarah Williams. I know you and your team will bring the world back to it's former state," Sarah stated as she tapped on her wrist computer, and I heard a ping coming from my computer. I looked at my wrist computer and was surprised that her phone number was on it.

I nodded to Sarah and started heading back to the others, but not before showing Sarah a single wave of goodbye as I walked away. As I approached the others, I didn't know how to feel about what had just happened. This was the first time in my entire life that something like this had happened to me, and it made me feel jittery in a good way.

"There you are Ethan. Where did you go?" Ace asked me as I approached.

"Sorry about that, someone was trapped under debris and I got her out," I explained sheepishly.

"Her, huh," Lexi teased with a smirk.

"You know what, lets get back to stopping Dare," I quickly changed the subject as I pointed to a green glow that was on the tallest rock formation in the distance.

"Ethan's right. Dare's using the power of the Jade Serpent Crystal to turn our world inside out, so we've got to use that gem to reverse it," Tech said as he pushed a button on his wrist computer, and six black ATVs pulled up to us quickly.

Rev took off to the mountain as the six of us got on the ATVs, put the helmets on, and drove after him.

"I couldn't have said it better myself," Ace agreed as we drove up the mountain.

"Scuse me, coming through, I'll just wait for you at the top. How long do ya think it'll take you all to get up there? Man, you guys are slow!" Rev pointed out as he arrived at the top, and we met up with him.

We all took off our helmets and headed to the entrance, but stopped when rocks around us began shaping into monsters.

"Oh just fucking perfect, it's the "Rockettes" again gang. Slam, teach them how to twist," Ace told Slam.

Slam babbled in agreement and spun up, quickly heading to a monster and throwing a punch, but the monster changed into a sand creature at the last second and Slam's fist went right through it's torso.

"Sand?" Lexi questioned in surprise as Slam struggled to yank his hand out.

"Who knew!" Ace replied in shock as the monsters raised their hands and shot sand at us.

We all cried out in alarm as we covered our faces and got blown back by the makeshift sandstorm.

"Slam!" Ace shouted in panic as we got thrown off the edge and started falling.

Thinking fast, I changed into a pteranodon, snatched Tech and Lexi by their torsos, and flew back to the area just as Slam used his tornado power to lift Ace, Daniel, and Rev to safety. I put Tech and Lexi on the ground and changed back to my human form.

"Oh, it's on now, assholes!" Lexi declared as she fired up a Brain Blast and sent all the monsters off the edge.

 _"Damn...note to self, never piss off Lexi if I wanna live past 30,"_ I thought uneasily.

"Nice blasting Lexi! Time to shut that crystal down!" Ace stated as we all ran inside the mountain and stopped to look around us in awe.

"Holy hell...looks like we're in OZ," Lexi remarked as she looked around the room.

"Yeah, though too bad the floating head operator is evil," I quipped to lighten the mood just as Ace pointed to the very thing that was causing so much destruction.

"There's that jade nugget that's been causing so much trouble," Ace said as Daniel quacked to the crystal and asked a bonehead question.

"So, how do we reverse this damn thing?" Daniel wondered as the rest of us walked over.

"This is just off the top of my head, but I say you can do it with a quanti-amplified charge of intense electromagnetic radiation," Tech theorized and Ace looked at him in confusion.

"Electro-magga-wagga...wait, wait. Uh, Tech, do you mean light?" Ace questioned as he walked away to find an off switch.

"Hey, you make it sound so fucking boring," I remarked just as Dare's announced himself to our presence.

"The Loona-pests, I thought I buried you all down below," Dare stated as I saw him at his throne.

"Sorry asshole. You know we would've stayed rock bottom, but there were no decent benefits," I joked with a smile and the others decided to join in.

"Haven't you heard? Down is the new up," Lexi stated.

"Yeah. We would've call first, but you were unlisted," Ace threw in his two cents.

"And we're gonna stop your insane plan stone cold!" Daniel declared dramatically and Dare scoffed.

"Stones are my domain duck, but there's no reason you all can't join my little rock group," Dare said as he waved his prosthetic hand over a panel of gems and the Jade Serpent Crystal started glowing brightly.

The crystal produced serpents that coiled around us and crystal started covering us, causing all seven of us to start struggling.

"Hey...what the hell's with the fucking rock candy?!" Ace grunted as he tried to break free.

"You'll become my own personal statues. A commemorative of what once was, not that I'm paying tribute to you!" Dare exclaimed insanely just as Tech looked at Ace.

"Ace! If we don't shut down that fucking machine, then the whole planet is going to-" Tech tried to make his statement, but he was cut off when rock formed over his mouth and only muffled noises came from him.

I saw Ace firing up his optics and he shot a stalactite, which fell into just the right place to reflect the beam right back to the crystal.

"My lovely Jade crystal! Nooo!" Dare cried out in horror just as the stone crumbled off of me and my teammates. Dare reacted by running and declaring, "You'll never catch me!"

"Hit it Ace, maneuver 2-" Lexi started to say, but she stopped when I leaped onto the throne and did a front flip over Dare; landing in front of the psychopath who immediately stopped running to prevent himself from crashing into me.

"Now you sick son of a bitch, let me help you go back to the rock you crawled out from under," I said darkly before grabbing his tattered cloak and decking Dare hard across the face, sending the mad man tumbling down the stairs and landing in a heap in front of the others.

Dare quickly got up and swung at Ace with his staff, making the team leader take out his sword and block the strike. After they clashed for awhile, Dare tried to kick Ace, but he dodged the attack and knocked Dare to the ground with a boot to the gut. Dare looked at the crystal and raised his staff at it.

"Power of the crystal be mine!" Dare called out to the crystal and a beam shot into his staff to power it.

Dare fired a beam at Ace, who blocked it and caused the beam to ricochet off of the sword, then the ceiling, then strike Dare. Dare cried out in horror and fear as stone covered him until a statue was standing in his place.

"What a stiff," Ace quipped as he pointed his thumb at the former mad man and the others regrouped with me while I worked on the gem panel.

"Well, we got the crystal. Do you think we can reverse it?" Ace asked me and I grinned back at him.

"We? What the hell's with the 'we'? Yes, Tech and I can reverse it," I stated just as I waved my hand over the board and the crystal shot out beams that struck the area around us.

"Good job, Ethan! You and Tech are so smart. I wish I was half as smart as you two. I look up to you two, I really do. Except not socially because I wouldn't want to spend all my free time in a lab. It would really suck, but kudos on a job well done!" Rev praised Tech and I as we all walked out of the room to see the city and the neighboring towns rising out of the ground.

I saw Daniel and Slam look out at the city until Daniel pointed to New Chinatown in glee.

"Oh look, I think I see New Chinatown! Egg-rolls on me, Slam," Daniel offered and Slam clasped his hands together in glee.

"Egg-rolls, egg-rolls, egg-rolls! Hell yes!" Slam cried out excitingly as we all started to leave the mountain.

* * *

Loonatics Tower, Acmetropolis, California, October 15, 2772.

"We should save New Chinatown from destruction more often. A year's supply of free take-out? Hell yeah!" Lexi said gleefully as she surveyed the buffet table in our lounge room, looking like she was wondering what to eat first. We were all here: Ace and Lexi were checking out the food while the rest of us were lounging around in our usual spots until Zadavia's hologram appeared.

"The calls of thanks are coming in. I also wanted to let you know that Dr. Dare is enjoying his new life as a statue in Acmetropolis park," Zadavia notified us just as the image of a dog sniffing the statue of Dare appeared.

"I'm sure the pigeons are thrilled," Ace said sarcastically.

"And we are receiving reports all over world continents, governments, and nations that things are returning to normal," Zadavia informed us with a smile.

"Hey, uh, you sure you don't want to join us for some moo goo gai pan, Zadavia?" Ace offered and Zadavia looked surprised.

"It is so sweet that you would include me and as it happens, I am hungry," Zadavia answered with a soft chuckle.

I saw Daniel quack between Ace and Lexi, and I rolled my eyes as I just knew what was coming next.

"Finally! Some face time with the boss lady. We can discuss new costumes, a better dental plan, a personal biographer," Daniel said while gesturing to himself with his thumb, and Lexi shot him a 'really?' look.

"But alas, I have other commitments. Perhaps another time. Zadavia out," our team founder said and cut off the connection, leaving Daniel looking insulted.

"What the fuck? Was it something I said?" Daniel wondered in confusion.

"Who? You Danny? Nah. Since when have you ever said the wrong thing?" Ace questioned sarcastically and added, "Let's eat!"

Just as Ace said that, Slam spun up and moved across the table, devouring all the food. I quickly formed a shield around everyone so that we didn't get splattered.

"For the love of God! That's despicable! Slam, at least save some for us and gorge with your fucking mouth closed!" Daniel snapped in irritation just as I changed my hand back to normal.

Suddenly, an alarm rang out from the console which caught our attention and I went over to see what was on the security monitors. I pushed a button and was surprised when I saw Sarah Williams inside the elevator.

"Who the hell is that and how did she get past our security systems?" Tech wondered in confusion and he started muttering to himself about how he and I should make sure this didn't happen again.

"Her name is Sarah Williams and she's the woman I saved earlier," I explained just as the elevator stopped at our floor and the doors opened up.

Sarah left the elevator and looked around until she spotted me and walked over.

"Mr. Matthews, I was hoping to find you here," Sarah stated as she stood in front of me and added, "And this must be your team."

"Hello Miss Williams, I wasn't expecting you to come here. And how did you get past the security systems?" I asked her curiously.

"It wasn't that hard. I just had to reroute the systems so that the building would see me as friendly" Sarah explained crisply just as Daniel came strutting over and held out his hand.

"Well, I didn't know that Ethan was friendly with someone as beautiful as you. Danger Duck is my title but my full name is Daniel Duck," Daniel flirted but Sarah shot him an unamused look.

"I'm sorry Mr. Duck, but I'm not in the habit of making friends with someone as arrogant as you," Sarah retorted calmly with a bland look on her vulpine muzzle, and Daniel sulked while the others snickered.

"Anyways, why are you here, Miss Williams? Do you need something?" I questioned.

"The reason why I'm here is because I wanted to see how your abilities work and maybe compare notes," Sarah suggested professionally and I nodded in agreement.

"Sure. The Lab and the Training Room are down this way, so follow me," I told her and we headed to the training room.

* * *

"Okay, this is the training room. The rest of the team and I work on our abilities to sharpen our skills so that we would be prepared for the next threat that would attack the city," I explained as I showed Sarah around.

"Interesting. Do you think you could give me a demonstration of your abilities?" Sarah asked me.

I nodded and formed my arms into blades, swinging to show how deadly they were until I formed them back to normal. I showed her more of what I was capable of by flattening myself, melting into goo, stretching and twisting my body in amazing lengths, and shape-shifting into humans, anthro-sapiens, nonmorphic animals, extinct animals, mythological creatures and even inanimate objects like furniture, vehicles, trees, and rocks. Finally, my now human form slimmed down into a slender and feminine shape, my ass grew out into a plush backside, my pectoral muscles formed out into d-cup breasts, the tail of a red fox grew out, red fur with a creamy underbelly and black socks appeared, and my ears stretched up to the top of my head as my head compressed and my face extended and grew out into a slender vulpine muzzle just as clothes formed around me. Before Sarah's eyes, I reshaped into an exact replica of herself with her clothing formed around me.

"So, what is your impression?" I asked her in her voice.

"Very fascinating...in all my years in the scientific community, I have never seen anything like this. It's like I'm either looking at a twin or a mirror refection," Sarah observed in surprise and awe at how flawless my shape-shifting was.

I changed back to normal and led her to the Lab, where Sarah brightened up slightly at seeing all the tech and gear Tech and I created.

"This is the Lab. In here, my friend Tech and I invent equipment and gear for the team so that we can have an advantage. Though...they sometimes have a habit of not working the way we want them to," I admitted sheepishly while I rubbed the back of my neck in embarrassment, recalling how sometimes our inventions would blow up in our faces, electrocute us, or just not work the way Tech and I want them to.

Sarah just looked around until she stopped at familiar small disks.

"What are these?" Sarah asked as she leaned forward and took a closer look.

"Those are the Retro Fire Master blasters. We used them when that giant iceberg appeared months ago," I explained and mumbled to myself that they didn't do much good in melting the iceberg.

"I can see that they are in need of an upgrade," Sarah stated and I looked at her.

"What do you mean?" I asked in confusion.

"The blasters are on low power and they haven't been upgraded so that they would fire much more efficiently," Sarah explained and I facepalmed in realization.

"I knew Tech and I should've rechecked those calibrations...I feel like such an idiot," I mumbled under my breath, feeling pretty stupid that we overlooked such a simple mistake.

Sarah gestured me to come over and she showed me what to do to fix the problem, the two of us working throughout the rest of the day to fix any problems that any of the equipment might be having.


	8. Return of Black Velvet

Loonatics Tower, Acmetropolis, California, November 10, 2772.

It had been weeks since I met Sarah and ever since we'd been in contact to either compare notes, or do some work in the lab. I didn't know if it was me, but for the past three days, I'd been feeling strange every time I saw Sarah. It's like my stomach gets jittery and I get somewhat tongue-tied when I was around her. It's not an entirely unpleasant sensation, but I was confused about how to handle it.

I was working in the lab with Tech when he looked at me and started speaking.

"Hey Ethan," Tech said and I looked at him.

"Yeah Tech?" I inquired.

"I forgot to tell you this, but my parents have been calling me and I've been talking to them," Tech explained.

"Yeah? It's nice to know that you have been talking to them, but why are you telling me this?" I asked in confusion.

"Well...heh, I may have told them about you and now they want to meet you," Tech admitted sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head.

"What...oh shit. Okay, um...what do I do? What do I wear? What the hell do I say when I meet them?" I questioned frantically and Tech took hold of my shoulders when I started hyperventilating.

"Ethan! Calm down, you're having a panic attack! You don't need to worry, my parents are good people and they'll like you," Tech reassured me as I took a few deep breaths to calm down.

"Okay...I'm calm. If I'm going to meet your parents, then what are they like?" I asked curiously.

"Well, my dad works as a biologist and he tends to come off as a little strict, but he's really nice once he gets to know you. As for my mom, she's really nice and will warm up to you just fine," Tech explained.

"Your father's a biologist? I'm sensing a pattern here," I remarked wryly.

"Yeah...my family has always worked close in the scientific community. The tradition goes back to my earliest ancestor Wile E. Coyote, who fell in love and settled down and finally got over his obsession with trying to catch the roadrunner. He decided to do scientific work for the community instead. After that, every member of the Coyote family had gotten involved in the scientific community and it's been tradition ever since," Tech explained.

"Interesting. Well, I'm gonna change into something nice so that I can make a good first impression," I informed Tech.

My team uniform rippled and flowed like water until it formed into a white buttoned up shirt that was tucked into brown khakis, and black dress shoes.

"How do I look?" I asked Tech.

"Like you're going to a meeting," Tech quipped.

I nodded and Tech and I left the lab. Tech went into his room and I waited for him to change out of his uniform. He came back out a few minutes later with his fur color back to it's normal brown and wearing a gray hoodie, green cargo pants, and blue sneakers.

We walked to the elevator, took it down to the first floor, then got out and headed to the garage. Tech and I headed to a red sports car that had the ability the change into a jet. We got into the car and I drove us out of the garage, moving through the city and enjoying the nice drive.

"So, is there anyone else that wants to meet me?" I questioned and Tech let out a grumble.

"There is one...my older brother, Brad," Tech said in annoyance.

"You have a brother? You didn't tell me that before," I stated in surprise.

"There is a reason why I didn't tell you about him, and you'll find out when you meet him," Tech said irritably just as we turned into a suburban neighborhood.

I let Tech direct me until we arrived at a nice looking house and I pulled up to the curb.

"Here we are," I announced as I turned off the engine and we got out.

I saw Tech looking around and breathing deeply, which made me ask, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that I haven't seen or talked to my parents and my brother since I met you," Tech admitted nervously.

"Really? You haven't spoken to them in nearly six years? If you don't mind me asking, is there something going on between you and your family?" I questioned in concern and Tech shook his head.

"Oh God no, nothing like that. I was planning on contacting them when we graduated from Acme Tech, but then we got kicked out and the meteor hit the city bay. Combine that with us getting our powers and doing our duties as the Loonatics...its just that I haven't had the time to contact them until just yesterday," Tech explained as we walked up to the front door.

Tech knocked on the door and we waited until the door opened and I saw an older female brown coyote with a blue sweatshirt, tan khakis, and sneakers, who perked up when she saw Tech.

"Tech..." the female coyote greeted with a soft smile.

"Hi mom," Tech replied as they hugged, and Tech's mother noticed me when they separated.

"Hello, you must be Tech's friend, Ethan. My name is Lucy," Lucy greeted as she shook my hand.

"Hello Mrs. Coyote, it's nice to meet you. I would tell you my name, but Tech seems to have already told you," I said wryly and Lucy laughed.

"True! Well Techie, I like this one. He has a quick way with words, so I'm going to need to keep an eye on him," Lucy remarked with a cheeky grin, and Tech started blushing furiously after he heard the name 'Techie'.

"Mom! Please don't call me that! You are embarrassing me in front of my friend!" Tech exclaimed frantically while I looked at him and mouthed "Techie?" in confusion.

"Listen son. No matter how old you are, you will always be my little Techie," Lucy lectured humorously while Tech was quickly gesturing her to be quiet.

"Techie huh?" I teased and Tech shot me a quick glare.

"Don't you start, dammit!" Tech shouted at me, causing Lucy and I to started laughing.

"Hahaha! Whoo, I haven't laughed that hard in years. Oh, I'm sorry, I haven't invited you two in," Lucy said sheepishly and gestured us to come inside.

Tech and I entered the house and I saw the living room just beyond where we were wiping our feet on the entryway floor mat.

"Tech, why don't you and your friend make yourselves at home while I get your father and brother," Lucy suggested as she went upstairs.

As we waited, I took a look around the living room and saw expensive furniture, a holographic TV, and many artfully displayed knickknacks. What really caught my attention was a bunch of photographs that were on a nearby shelf. I looked closer at one of the photos and saw a picture of a younger Lucy with a male gray Coyote who had a stern expression on his muzzle. He was wearing a business suit with a tie. I looked at the next photo and saw Lucy, the male gray coyote, a gray coyote in his late teenaged years who was wearing a pair of blue jeans, black sneakers, white t-shirt, and a high school football jacket. I concluded that the two gray coyotes was Tech's father and older brother as I saw a younger Tech in his early teenaged years, who was smiling with dental braces and wearing glasses, a blue jeans jacket with a black long sleeved shirt, gray cargo pants, and Converse sneakers.

"Tech, I didn't know you wore braces when you were a kid," I pointed out, and Tech put his hands on his muzzle to cover up a groan of embarrassment.

"Oh God, you found that picture? Listen, I was forced to wear those damn things because my teeth had been getting crooked and they made me a target for the older kids, especially Brad. After they were removed, my brother wouldn't let me hear the end of it for weeks," Tech grumbled irritably just as I heard approaching footsteps.

We turned to look at the stairs just as Lucy came down with the two gray coyotes, looking older than in the pictures.

"Sorry for making you two wait," Lucy apologized and introduced, "Ethan, this is my husband Sam and Tech's brother, Brad."

I nodded as I walked over and shook their hands. Sam was holding the same stern expression that I saw in the photo and he was wearing a red shirt covered by a gray windbreaker, sweatpants, and sneakers. As for Brad, he was wearing a black leather jacket, black t-shirt, dark blue jeans with a belt, and dark brown work boots. As I shook their hands, Brad looked at Tech and started smirking.

"Well, looks like old baby brother Techie managed to get away from his toys so that he can make a friend," Brad remarked, causing Tech and I to shoot him a glare for calling our inventions 'toys'.

"For the last time Brad, my inventions are not toys! And quit calling me that! You know that fucking name embarrasses the hell out of me!" Tech snapped in irritation.

"Yeah sure, whatever," Brad dismissed rudely and he asked me, "So, you're Ethan Matthews? Techie told us all about you."

"Good things I hope," I said as I stared coolly at him, already not liking his attitude.

"Mostly about how you are just as geeky as little brother here and how you also work with him," Brad stated in boredom and my glare intensified for the 'geek' comment.

"You don't say..." I trailed off in irritation, already wanting to get away from this guy since he reminded me of Daniel.

I looked away from Brad and decided to talk to Sam.

"So Sam, Tech tells me you are a biologist?" I asked Sam and I saw his eyes lit up.

"Yes I am. How much do you know about it?" Sam questioned professionally.

"I know a lot about it. It's one of the things that got me into Acme Tech," I explained and Sam perked up.

"You went to Acme Tech? I went there when I was younger and that college made me the man I am today," Sam said proudly. I smiled as I saw his enthusiasm for the topic and knew we would have some good conversations about our mutual interests.

Just before I could respond, my watch started beeping and I saw that Ace was calling on it.

"Excuse me for a second," I apologized and headed to a hallway.

Once I was far enough away from prying eyes and ears, I tapped a button and a screen with Ace on it appeared.

"What is it Ace? Why are you calling me?" I asked quietly.

"There's a problem. Lexi contacted us and said that Black Velvet has returned. Lexi was ambushed by Velvet and her robotic thugs, so be careful 'cause she will most definitely go after you and Tech to get revenge," Ace informed me seriously before he disconnected.

I was taken aback at the knowledge that Black Velvet survived the exploding zeppelin, but I was concerned that Velvet might have followed Tech and I. I paled when I realized that Velvet might use Tech's parents and older brother as leverage against us.

I walked back into the living room as normally as possible since I didn't want to give away that I was nervous.

"Important call?" Lucy asked.

"It was a co-worker from the lab." Tech shot me a concerned glance and I continued, "Everything's fine. No need to worry, but we are needed back at the lab."

I saw that Brad was looking at me suspiciously as I walked over to Tech and put my hand on his shoulder.

"You know Tech, I've been thinking about getting velvety drapes for my room. How does black sound?" I messaged subtly.

I saw Tech's eyes widen slightly in horror and realization as Sam, Lucy, and Brad looked at us in confusion.

"Yeah, that sounds good. How about we go and get some right now?" Tech messaged back to tell me that he knew and I nodded.

"Sure," I agreed and added as I looked at the others, "Sorry to cut this so soon, but Tech and I need to go. It was nice meeting you all."

"Okay? Well, we hope to see you again," Lucy said just as Tech and I turned around to leave.

I looked back and nodded, seeing Brad still staring at us in suspicion until I looked away as Tech and I left. We got in the car and pulled away as Tech shot me a look of panic and fear.

"Is it true?! Tell me that it's not fucking true!" Tech exclaimed frantically as I turned onto a street on our right.

"Ace contacted me and told me that she's back," I stated grimly and that was all the answer Tech needed.

Tech didn't say anything, but just started gripping his head in distress, hyperventilating in complete panic and I stopped the car so that I could grab his shoulders.

"Tech! Calm down! It's okay, we stopped her before and we'll stop her again!" I reassured firmly and Tech looked back at me in terror.

"I can't...I don't know if I can fucking do it! I don't know if I can face her after what she tried to make me do to you!" Tech babbled and broke out sobbing as I held him close.

Seeing Tech reacting in such a way showed me that he was more affected by what Velvet did to him then I had first thought. Even the name Black Velvet was triggering an episode, which made me conclude that Tech must have some form of PTSD due to what Velvet had done to a street on our right.

After a while, Tech managed to calm down and I resumed driving quickly back to HQ. Just as I was driving through an intersection, I heard something fast approaching and my eyes widened in horror when I glanced to my left just in time to see a semi truck as it smashed into our car. The car was sent spinning and something else crashed into us, causing our car to flip a few times until we landed upside down, and I blacked out from smashing my head onto the steering wheel.

* * *

I groaned just as I was waking up to a nasty pain in my head. My blurry vision managed to clear up enough to see that I was still in the car with an unconscious Tech, the two of us hanging upside down, restrained by our seat belts. I looked slowly and painfully at Tech, who was unconscious and bleeding not only from cuts on his body, but there was also a nasty gash on his head and a broken arm that was thankfully healing quick due to his powers.

"Augh! Fuck! Tech...oh shit...guh..." I trailed off in agony just as I smelled smoke starting to come from the car.

I reached for the seat belt and fiddled with the button until it came free and I landed onto the roof, crawling over to Tech and getting the seat belt off him. I looked back and kicked the door open just as the smoke turned into fire, and I struggled to pull out Tech and drag him far away from the car just as it blew up. I saw people rushing over toward us to check on us to see if we were okay.

"Oh my God! Sir, are you and your friend okay?!" A man asked urgently as a crowd started forming.

Suddenly, a dark beam came out of nowhere and hit the man, the beam going through his back and coming out his front, producing a large bloody hole, spilling out his intestines and other internal organs as the man fell and hit the ground with blood bubbling and gurgling out of his mouth. The man tried to breathe as people started screaming and fleeing in terror just as another dark beam shot at the man's head and it exploded, sending blood, bone, and brain matter all over me and Tech.

I was gasping in fear as I struggled to get Tech up and I saw Black Velvet floating down at us with a psychotic grin.

"I found you baby," Velvet sang mockingly as her robotic thugs appeared around us and she ordered, "Kill them!"

I quickly dragged Tech away and I kept moving until we found ourselves in an abandoned warehouse. I ducked inside, dragging Tech as he was waking up.

"Ugh...Ethan? What the fuck-" Tech started to say but I clasped my hand over his muzzle.

I frantically hushed him just as I heard someone coming in.

"Come out come out, wherever you are. You know I'll find you so that I can tear off your limbs and rip you in half," Velvet called out sadistically.

I trembled in terror and Tech whimpered quietly while tears ran down his cheeks. We slowly peered out to see Velvet moving and looking around. When she looked away, we quietly moved until we found ourselves in an old office of some kind.

I frantically tapped on my watch and called Ace, and waited until his face appeared. He looked at us in horror when he saw the blood and brain matter covering us.

"Ethan! Oh my God! What the fuck happened and why are you and Tech covered in blood?! We tried calling you and Tech but there was no answer for a few hours-" Ace started to say but I put my finger to my lips and hushed him harshly.

"Quiet Ace! We need help. Velvet found us and she killed someone. Oh God, there was so much fucking blood...please, help us. We are in an old warehouse near HQ. Track us on our GPS' and get here," I instructed while I was shaking.

Ace nodded just as I felt a presence and Tech and I looked behind us to see Velvet leering at us.

"Found you!" Velvet declared and shot a dark beam at us.

I reacted by forming a shield and the force sent Tech and I crashing out of the building and hitting the ground hard just as Velvet's forces appeared around us. One raider tried to impale me, but I blocked it with a bladed arm and I kicked the attacker away just as the other thugs attacked us. I didn't know how long we were fighting but due to the injuries Tech and I had suffered in the car crash combined with the extended fighting, we were getting exhausted and starting to slow down.

Eventually, one attacker got lucky and knocked me down to the ground with a kick and raised it's blade to decapitate me. As it was about to kill me, memories of my life ran through my mind and I knew that I would miss my friends and I felt regret that I was never going to find out what happened to my father.

 _"Mom, Dad, Ace, Lexi, Tech, Daniel, Rev, Slam, I'm sorry,"_ I thought as I closed my eyes and prepared for my death.

Suddenly, I heard the attacker above me get kicked away and I opened my eyes to see a figure in a hooded cloak beating the shit out of the raiders in a impressive display of martial arts. As the figure was taking down the group of thugs, I could almost see the brown furred muzzle of some kind of canine under the hood as the figure was practically destroying the thugs in a deadly dance of agile punches and kicks.

"Who the fuck is that?!" Velvet cried out in fury and she started blasting at the figure.

The figure did back flips, front flips, hops, leaps, and dodges to avoid getting hit and he jumped up at Velvet to deliver fast hits. After hitting Velvet with rabbit punches, a swift kick sent the scarred woman crashing to the ground and the figure went to knock her out with a karate chop to the back of her neck.

 _"Holy shit! Who the hell is this guy?!"_ I thought in disbelief at what I had just witnessed.

I'd noticed that the figure's hood had fallen down during the fighting and I could see that our savior was a brown coyote with green eyes that held the look of a person who was much older and wiser then he appeared.

"That takes care of her. Are y'all okay?" the coyote asked in a deep voice with a Texan accent that felt strangely familiar to me.

"We're fine, thanks for saving our asses," Tech said gratefully.

"It's no problem. I was nearby and I heard the commotion, so I wanted to help out," the coyote explained just as the sound of the team jet sounded out and he added, "Sounds like your friends are coming. I'll let ya clean up all of this."

As the coyote put his hood over his head and started to leave, I couldn't help but notice that something about him felt familiar, even though I had never met him before. I decided to question him.

"Wait!" I called out and the coyote stopped to look back as I asked, "Who are you? Have we met?"

"You could say that we know each other. And as for who I am, I'm a friend and that's all I can say," the coyote stated cryptically and he left quickly just as the team jet and a car appeared.

As I was trying to figure out what the coyote meant by that, the jet opened and our teammates came rushing out to prepare for a fight. Tech's parents and older brother pulled up in their car and ran over to check on Tech and me.

"Tech! Mr. Matthews! Thank God you two are okay!" Lucy exclaimed as she, Sam, and Brad ran over to embrace Tech.

"You are a such an asshole for scaring us like that, little brother," Brad growled as he punched Tech on the shoulder.

"When we saw the news about how you were in that car crash and that Black Velvet woman was chasing after you, we were scared that something had happened," Sam stated as he shook my hand and nodded gratefully.

As Tech's parents and older brother thanked me, I saw the rest of my teammates looking around and staring at the knocked out Black Velvet in surprise. Brad suddenly saw them and perked up.

"Holy shit, is that the Loonatics?! I have got to meet them, though I already know two of them," Brad commented while smirking at us.

"Wha...how the hell do you-" I stammered in shock while Tech stared in bewilderment.

"It wasn't all that hard to figure out. And the fact that all this happened after you two left convinced me that you two were members of the Loonatics," Brad explained.

I shook my head and walked over to Ace, who was tying up Velvet and he grinned when he saw me.

"Well, look who's still among the living," Ace quipped and I shot him a deadpanned look.

"Hello Ace. Why yes, Tech and I are doing just fine. We totally almost didn't get killed," I said sarcastically and Ace winced.

"Okay, that was a bad choice of words. Seriously though, are you and Tech okay? While we were flying here, we thought the worst had happened when the signal cut off," Ace asked in concern.

"We're fine...shook up, but fine," I assured Ace.

"Okay, so did you and Tech do this? I wouldn't be surprised if you two did after the shit she put you both through," Ace wondered.

"As much as we would loved to have done this, no. Just when we almost died, this guy came out of nowhere and kicked the shit out of Velvet and her gang of thugs," I told Ace, who perked up.

"Really? Who was it?" Ace questioned curiously and the other team members also looked at me.

"A brown coyote with green eyes who was wearing a hooded cloak, but the strange thing is that something about him feels familiar," I explained.

"Huh...did you know him or something?" Ace asked as we put Velvet in the jet.

"No...I've never seen him before in my life but his voice sounds so familiar to me, like I've known him a long time ago," I said as Tech's family drove away and the others got in with us.

"Well...maybe when you find him, you can get some answers," Ace suggested as we took off and flew towards the nearest police precinct.

As we were flying, I laid my head against the window and started to drift off, wondering if I would see that coyote again.

* * *

A/N Who is that coyote I wonder and how is he familiar to Ethan? Well, that's up to you because I know who he is and I'm not revealing anything, so tell me your theories by review. P.s, I've noticed that there are either not a lot of reviews in most of my stories or none at all, so I really want to know what you all think, good or bad. Well, that's all, stay tuned.


	9. The Date

Loonatics Tower, Acmetropolis, California, December 7, 2772.

After Velvet was stopped, we brought her to the nearest police precinct and things went back to normal after that. Well, as normal as things can be when you have the ability to change your body into practically anything and more, and that you are a part of a team of vigilantes who keeps a major city safe from destruction.

It had been a month since Velvet was stopped and Ace and I were in the Training Room, working on my newly discovered ability that appeared yesterday. What happened is that Professor Zane broke out of prison and tried to get revenge on us, but he failed and during the fight against him, my powers grew and now I have the ability to merge with a person, which I accidentally did with Daniel. All I can say is that the both of us were not happy with that and I managed to separate from Daniel while he was complaining about me violating him.

Merging with a person is quite an incredible experience that's hard to explain. Imagine it like being apart of a person in a very personal way and feeling like it's the most amazing feeling in your life.

"Okay Ethan, are you ready?" Ace asked me as Tech and I was looking at each other nervously.

"Well...I guess," I said hesitantly.

Tech nodded and we held each other close, hoping that Daniel wasn't getting the wrong idea.

I felt my anxiety rising as I pushed up against my lab partner and I closed my eyes to focus on merging with Tech. Then I felt bliss as my ability started working and I opened my eyes to see Tech rolling his eyes back from what I assume to be pleasure. Suddenly, our bodies became like putty and our arms that were in an embrace started submerging into our backs as we sank into each other and started forming into a different shape. As our hips met, we shuttered at the incredible ecstasy that we could feel as our bodies started turning into humanoid goo and we rippled and flowed like water as flesh, fur, and animalistic traits melded with human skin until the merging completed. Our new body oozed and formed into a hybrid of a coyote and human with a team uniform that was a mixture of green and silver as we opened our eyes to see the others looking in awe.

"So, how do we look?" We asked in a mixture of both voices.

"Holy shit..." Ace mumbled in surprise.

"I think what Ace is trying to say is that how does it feel? Becoming one person and the aftermath," Lexi clarified.

"It's...there are no words to describe how good it feels...how intimate it is to be one," We stated softly and looked at our hands, clenching them and looking up at a few targets.

We stretched our arm like rubber and destroyed one target while using our magnetic ability to smash a few more with a wrench. We kept displaying our abilities until we decided to separate and we let out a quiet groan as the process started. Our body literally melted and there was nothing but pure pleasure as the blob of goo split into two and oozed up until Tech and I flowed back into our normal forms. Tech and I were gasping breathlessly at the incredible experience we just went through and Tech looked at me.

"My God Ethan...there are no words to describe what I felt when we used your abilities. Breaking down into a liquid, it felt so relaxing and comfortable, and becoming one felt so good," Tech stated quietly in awe.

I nodded in understanding and looked at my watch, cursing under my breath when I saw that I was going to be late.

"Oh shit, I'm going to be late! Sarah's going to be fucking pissed!" I exclaimed in panic.

"You better get going then if you want to make it," Rev told me just as my uniform changed into a suit with a tie and dress shoes.

I nodded as I left the room and went to the elevator, thinking about how tonight is going to go.

As the last two months had passed, what I was feeling for Sarah had grown stronger until I decided to speak to Ace about it a week ago since he was the team leader. I was surprised when he explained what was going on with me.

* * *

 _I approached Ace in the kitchen so that I could talk to him about what the hell was happening to me._

 _"Hey Doc," Ace greeted as I walked up to him.  
_

 _"Hi, Ace. Listen, I need your help with something," I said as I was looking at the living room to see the others watching a movie._

 _"Okay? What did you want to talk about?" Ace asked curiously._

 _"I wanted to talk to you about this since you're the team leader. Basically, I've been feeling odd whenever I see Sarah, like I'm having this jittery feeling in the pit of my stomach and I feel like blushing whenever I talk to her. Do you know what the hell is going on with me? Because I have no idea," I asked him and Ace let out a smirk._

 _"Really? Let me guess, you feel shy whenever you speak to her and you don't know why that is, am I right?" Ace said and I looked at him in surprise.  
_

 _"Yeah, you're right. How the hell do you know?" I inquired._

 _"Let me ask you something. How do you see Sarah?" Ace asked me._

 _"How do I see her? I see her as a friend and a co-worker," I said in confusion._

 _"Or maybe you see her as something more than that," Ace remarked and I looked at him like he had two heads._

 _"Ace...what the fuck are you talking about?" I questioned._

 _"Okay, clearly you don't understand what I just said, so I'm not sugarcoating it for you. Ethan, you have fallen for her, see her as more than a friend, or simply love her," Ace clarified and I stared at him in shock._

 _"Wait...when you say I love her, you actually mean that I see her in a romantic way?" I inquired and Ace nodded._

 _I was stunned that I had actually fallen in love with someone since this had never happened to me before. I was shocked and didn't know what to do._

 _"...wow...I don't know what to say to that," I said._

 _"How about a thank you, Doc," Ace remarked and I shot him a look for his smartass remark._

 _"Okay, so what do I do? You are the team leader, so how do I go about doing this?" I asked him, wondering what kind of advice Ace could give me._

 _"Well, the simplest advice I can give you is that you should tell her how you feel," Ace told me._

 _"There's a problem with that. How do I tell her? And if I do tell her, will she reject me?" I asked very good questions._

 _"Listen Ethan. I have been in a relationship before and all I can tell you is that It's better to say it now, rather than wait until you get the courage only for someone else to get to her first," Ace told me wisely and I nodded in understanding._

 _I looked at the hallway that led to the Lab and decided to tell Sarah now while I had the chance and brace for whatever her answer was._

 _"You're right, Ace. Better to just get it over with, like ripping off a band-aid, and see what comes next," I agreed and took a deep breath._

 _"Go get her," Ace encouraged me._

 _I nodded and left the kitchen, heading to the Lab and going in to see Sarah working on a project._

 _"Miss Williams," I greeted as I walked over and Sarah looked at me._

 _"Oh...hello Mr. Matthews, I was just making a few adjustments to this project you and Mr. Coyote were working on," Sarah explained as she stopped and turned to me fully._

 _"Thank you for the help, I appreciate that, and I'm sure Tech will as well. The reason why I'm bothering you is that I wanted to speak to you about something," I stated which caught Sarah's attention._

 _"Oh? What do you want to speak about?" Sarah asked me curiously and I took a deep breath before answering._

* * *

I told Sarah how I felt about her and she was surprisingly flattered. But I was shocked in a good way when she told me that she also had feelings for me and wanted us to go out together, so we decided that we would go out to a nice restaurant tonight, and now I was going to be late.

 _"God Ethan, for having such a high I.Q, you are such a dumbass sometimes,"_ I thought as I entered the garage and got into the fixed up red sports car.

I drove out of the building and headed to my destination, feeling like an idiot for almost forgetting the most important night of my life. I drove past buildings and the city park until I finally arrived. I got out of my car, locked the doors, and turned around to see Sarah standing next to a nearby car. I was stunned in a good way when I saw that she was wearing a nice dress and coat.

"Mr. Matthews, you made it," Sarah stated with an arched eyebrow, and I chuckled sheepishly as I rubbed the back of my neck in embarrassment, and she smiled.

"Yeah...sorry about that, I was testing a new ability I had discovered and almost forgot the time," I explained in embarrassment and Sarah perked up.

"Really? You discovered a new ability? Well, I can understand wanting to know all about something new in the name of science," Sarah said in understanding as we entered the restaurant called Luigi and Sons and the Maître D' at the front desk smiled professionally when he saw us.

"Good evening, table for two?" the Maître D' inquired.

"Actually, we have a reservation under Ethan Matthews and Sarah Williams," I said politely and he looked in a large book until he nodded and smiled at us.

"Everything appears to be in order. This way," the Maître D' said and we followed him to a table that was far enough away from prying ears.

"Here is your table. Now, would you and the lovely lady want anything to drink?" the Maître D' asked us as Sarah and I took off our coats.

"We'll just have a red wine if that's okay? Do you have a nice Cabernet?" Sarah said as she took her seat.

"Of course, good choice, Miss," the Maître D' said and he left us alone so that we could talk in private.

After looking through the menu and choosing what we wanted to order, I said, "So, how about we get to know each other a little bit better?"

Sarah nodded and said, "Sure. So, why don't you start since I barely know anything about you."

"Well, I was born and raised in Birmingham Alabama with two loving parents. My mother Lisa was a stay at home mom while my father Paul worked in construction management. He used to be a shooting guard for the Chicago Bulls in the NBA until he suffered a bad injury in a car accident that forced him to retire," I explained.

"Your father was a basketball player? That's impressive," Sarah said.

"Yeah...though he went missing when I was 5 years old and nobody found any trace as to what had happened to him," I told her and Sarah looked at me sympathetically.

"I'm sorry Ethan, that must've been hard," Sarah told me just as the waiter showed up with wine and two glasses.

"Here is your wine," the waiter informed us as he placed the glasses down and poured a little wine into them for us to taste.

"Oh, thank you," Sarah said, as we each took a small sip and I nodded my approval. "That is lovely, thank you."

"It is no trouble at all." The waiter said, filling both of our glasses, "Have you had enough time to look at the menu and make your selections?" the waiter asked.

We both made our orders and the waiter left us to return to our conversation.

"Well, back to what we were talking about. Did the police never find out what happened to your father?" Sarah asked me as I took a sip from my wine glass.

"Sadly...no. I don't remember much about what happened since I was really young, but my mother told me that he went out one day to play golf with some friends and he never came home. The weird thing is that my father's old basketball gear that he kept since his college days went missing one night. It's blurry, but I can almost recall getting out of bed and seeing two strange looking people inside the house going into the trophy room and taking my father's basketball gear while they were arguing about something," I told Sarah.

"Really. Do you remember what they looked like?" Sarah inquired curiously.

"Not really since I was young, but all I can recall is that they looked pretty strange," I stated as blurry memories of a gray figure and a black figure with orange on its feet and face looking at me ran through my mind.

We spent the next few minutes talking about more pleasant childhood memories. I told her that I had always wanted to be a scientist and my mother had encouraged me, even making me a little lab coat for my seventh birthday.

"Oh my!" Sarah said, laughing, "My mother made me a little lab coat too! What a coincidence! I always loved that little lab coat and was really sad when I grew out of it."

Sarah was about to say more, but just then our food arrived and we thanked the waiter, who nodded and left.

"So, what did you do before you wound up here in Acmetropolis?" Sarah asked me as she started eating.

"Well, I grew up a bit of an outcast since I was so smart and I was always a prime target for bullying. When I was 18, I left home and traveled around for a few years until I found myself in Acmetropolis, and that's when I met Tech," I explained, coming up with a half-truth.

"So you met Mr. Coyote when you arrived," Sarah said.

"Well...you could say that we bumped into each other...literally," I admitted sheepishly and Sarah looked at me in surprise.

"Wait. When you say that you two literally bumped into each other, you mean it?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah...that was not one of my proudest moments. God, I was so embarrassed when it happened and I helped him pick up everything he had dropped. After that, I applied for the Acme Tech Institute and Tech and I have been friends ever since," I said proudly.

We kept on chatting about our lives and I found out that Sarah grew up here with a single mother and that she always kept to herself all the way through her college years and into her career as a Theoretical Physicist. After a while, we finished our food and I paid the bill, after which we agreed to continue our conversation in the city park and walked out to the parking lot together, then went to our separate cars.

A few minutes later, we met back up at the Park and started walking together, enjoying the mild weather as we strolled down the paths.

"This is nice," Sarah said as we walked together and I saw her smile.

"It is..." I trailed off quietly and had an idea, asking," Sarah, do you trust me?"

"Yes, why?" Sarah inquired in confusion.

"I want to show you what it is like to use my abilities, but I need to use my new ability in order to do that," I told her.

"Oh? And what is your new ability?" Sarah asked me.

"Well, I have the ability to merge with a person and have us become one. Now, if you want me to do this, then bear in mind that it is going to feel intense and very intimate when we become one person. So if you don't want me to do it, then I won't and it won't hurt my feelings. It's up to you if you want us to do it or not," I told Sarah patiently and waited for her answer.

Sarah looked hesitant at first, which is understandable, since merging with a person is a very intimate and intense experience that I consider a very private thing, but I wanted to show Sarah what it is truly like to be one person. Sarah then looked up at me and I braced myself for her answer.

"Okay, I have thought about it and I would like to try it, but let me ask you one thing. Is this safe and will we be able to separate?" Sarah asked me.

"Don't worry, it is safe and it won't hurt at all. It will feel intense in a good way, and I want this night to be special for both of us," I assured her with a calm smile.

"Okay...if you say it is safe then I'll trust you," Sarah said.

I nodded and gestured for Sarah to come close so that she could experience what it is like. Sarah stepped closer and I gently held her close to me while pressing up against her and rippling my body. We moaned quietly in pleasure as we started to merge, my feet and legs melding into Sarah's as I pressed my hips against hers. We kept letting out noises of euphoria as our hips and most private zones rippled and oozed together into one. We didn't think, but began to kiss just before our torsos began to blend together. We cried out in pleasure we melded together and sank into each other until our lower bodies were blended but our upper chests, arms, necks, and heads were still separated. If anyone were to see us, they would see a conjoined fox and human.

"How do you feel? Do you want to stop?" I asked her a little breathlessly.

"My God...this feels incredible...don't stop," Sarah gasped out and I nodded.

I pushed my chest against her breasts and we moaned as they flowed and melted until our upper torsos fused together and our bodies looked like a mixture of a furry human and female anthro red fox with four arms and two heads. We then put our hands together and they along with our arms formed into two arms and we looked at each other. We didn't say anything and just kissed, our heads sinking into each other and our minds merging into one until only a hybrid of a human and red fox stood in our place with clothes forming on us.

We let out a blissful sigh as we looked down and moved our shoulders around, and looked up at the sky with anticipation. We changed into the form of an eagle and we took off into the sky, feeling the wind run through our feathers and enjoying the feeling of being one as we flew around and passed H.Q., laughing as we peered into the windows as we flew by. After several minutes of just flying and feeling free, we came back to the park and changed back into our hybrid form.

We melted and split into two until we formed into our normal shapes again, then just looked at each other.

"So, how was it?" I asked her.

"Ethan...no words describe what I felt. I felt your thoughts, feelings, and I saw your memories. You really came from the 21st century?" Sarah asked me in awe.

"I did...I showed you everything because I love you and I didn't want there to be any secrets between us," I declared as we held each other.

"Ethan...thank you, for this wonderful experience," Sarah said gratefully and we kissed passionately.

I put my arm around her shoulder and we left the park, heading to the parking area. When we got to her car, I looked at her.

"So...next week then?" I inquired.

"Of course, and I want to experience merging into one person again," Sarah said and I nodded.

We kissed again, then Sarah got into her car and drove off as I waved. I walked to my car and drove back to H.Q. wearing a huge grin. I arrived at the Tower and parked in the garage, got out and went into the elevator.

The door opened at the 134th floor, and I walked out into the living room to see the others waiting for me.

"What the hell? Were you guys waiting for me all this time?" I questioned in surprise as my suit formed back into my team uniform.

"Yes, we did. Now how did it go?" Daniel asked in anticipation.

"It...went great and I think that we are going to do it again next week," I admitted shyly and Daniel let out a whoop as he fist pumped into the air.

"I knew it would go well! Pay up Slam!" Daniel exclaimed in victory and Slam grumbled as he handed the mallard 10 dollars.

"Hold on a fucking minute! You guys were betting on how my date was going to go?" I questioned suspiciously as the others handed each other money.

"Yeah...it was my idea and we only did it for fun since we knew it was going to end well anyways," Lexi admitted sheepishly.

I facepalmed but I chuckled, as I knew that the others were happy for me.

"Well, glad to know that you all were rooting for me. I don't know about you guys, but I'm tired so I am getting some sleep," I stated as I let out a yawn and turned around to go to my room.

I walked down the hallway and entered my room, taking my uniform off and laying down onto the bed with a happy sigh. I closed my eyes and fell fast asleep.


	10. The Comet Cometh

Loonatics Tower, Acmetropolis, California, March 7, 2773.

"Okay fellas, prepare for a major ass whooping by yours truly," I stated as I aimed my pool cue at the billiard balls while Ace, Lexi, and Sarah watched. I had challenged them to a game of pool as soon as we finished breakfast.

It had been two months since Sarah and I went on our first date and things have been going pretty good between us. About a month ago, I introduced Sarah to Zadavia and the team founder was alright with it as long as we didn't let it interfere with my duties as a member of the Loonatics. Ace, Lexi, and I were playing a game of pool and I was about to hit the white ball while Slam was gorging himself with three crates of grapefruit, Tech was working on a new blaster we started developing, Rev played one man ping-pong, and Daniel was playing an old weather report DVD while drooling at his crush, Misty Breeze, the local weather reporter.

"For fuck's sake Slam! Do you mind, I'm trying to hear Misty's report!" Daniel snapped in irritation as Slam chomped down three grapefruit at once and grinned at him.

"Goddammit! Are you happy now, 'cause now I have to start all over again," Daniel complained as he started up the disk again.

"Finally have the Beam-splitter neutron cannon finished," Tech said as he put the last cover on and admired it until he put it down and added under his breath, "Now to work on the blasters for Slam."

"He's invincible, he's unstoppable, and he's undecidedly the most fantastic ping-pong player ever!" Rev declared as he zipped back and forth to keep pace with the small white ball.

"Looks like you don't have it, Ethan," Lexi stated after she successfully hit the number 3 ball in the upper right corner pocket, causing me to curse under my breath as she added, "Don't worry about it Ethan, 'cause Ace is about to lose too."

"Don't count on it Lex, since you only have a number 7 and 9 balls," Ace shot back with a smirk and got ready to hit one of the two in.

Ace was about to hit the number 7 ball until the doors to the lounge room opened and we were surprised when the Mayor and her security team came in.

"Mayor Melody? What can we do for you?" Ace asked as all eight of us went to see her.

"I just wanted to come by and tell you all that because it is the one year anniversary of when the meteor hit us, the city wanted to present an award for everything you have done for us," the woman explained.

"Really? Where is this taking place?" Ace asked.

"In the city park, at 5:00 pm tonight" the woman clarified.

"Excuse me Madam Mayor, but is it okay if Miss Williams comes with us? She and I are together and I would like it if she came with for support," I suggested and the Mayor nodded.

"Of course. Anyone who is with the Loonatics is welcome to join. Now, I must take my leave so that I can prepare for the speech," the Mayor informed us as she and her security team left.

Later that day, we all got ready for the big event and took our motorcycles to the park with plenty of time to spare since barely half of the seats were filled. As we dismounted and headed to the big wooden stage at the center of the park, Sarah and I kissed, then she went to one of the chairs that were in front of the stage as the rest of us walked onto the stage and waited for the Mayor and everyone else to show up. By 5pm, all the seats in front of the stage were full and the Mayor stepped up to the podium to start her speech.

"...Which is why we are gathered here on this day; the one year anniversary of the meteor's impact. Adjusting to this strange new world has been difficult for all of us," the Mayor began and all seven of us from right to left: Tech, Rev, Ace, Lexi, Slam, Daniel, and I stood at attention even though Slam started to doze off. Luckily Lexi was there to give him a friendly nudge to the ribs with her elbow which caused him to focus. I saw Sarah smile at me and I nodded back slightly while I kept my hands clasped behind my back and my feet close together.

"Fortunately, we had help from seven extraordinary individuals," the Mayor stated as I saw Daniel checking himself out in the mirror in the corner of my eye.

 _"Oh, God...I get the feeling that Danny is going to boast,"_ I thought dryly as the Mayor kept speaking.

"Who have watched over and protected us. And now to accept this small token of our appreciation-" the Mayor was about to finish as she held out a plaque, but she was rudely interrupted when Daniel snatched the plaque out of her hands and walked up to the edge of the stage.

"Thank you! Thank you! You know, there are so many people in my life who have made this incredible honor possible, but enough about them. As you know, there's a lot of hard work-" Daniel started to ramble while I smiled sheepishly at Sarah and the crowd in embarrassment, and the mallard had his turn to be interrupted when the Mayor forced the plaque away from him as she glared at him.

"This is for the team's leader, Ace Bunny," the Mayor told him sternly as she gave it to Ace, who took it and turned to look at the crowd as they all cheered and Daniel walked away in a slump.

"Thank you very much, Madam Mayor. Good thing it's not every day that destruction rains down...upon us?" Ace questioned the last part in confusion just as tiny brown objects came raining down everywhere from the sky.

"Great...a hailstorm and me without my umbrella," Lexi grumbled as she, Slam, Rev, Tech, and I held out our hands to catch the "hail".

"What the...Tech, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" I asked my lab partner when I got a good look at the "hail".

"Yeah...guys, this isn't hail, these are rock pellets. They aren't even from this planet...oh fuck me, it's a meteor shower!" Tech cried out in alarm just as the large rocks in question came falling from the sky.

"Oh shit, and I don't think an umbrella's gonna help!" Ace stated just as my eyes widened in horror as people screamed and started to flee in panic.

"Oh Jesus! I need to get Sarah to safety!" I exclaimed just as Lexi blasted a rock that was about to hit us.

"Hit it Loonatics, we got people to save!" Ace declared as I jumped off the stage and ran over to Sarah.

"Sarah, look out!" I notified in alarm just as I saw that a rock was about to hit her.

Sarah screamed in terror just as I tackled her out of danger and we rolled around until I wound up on top of her.

"Are you okay?" I asked her in concern just as I helped her to her feet.

"Yes...thank you, Ethan," Sarah said gratefully and kissed me. I took out a small cube from a pouch on my belt, pressing a button to make it change into a large cannon.

"Take this and start shooting! We need to save these people!" I told her urgently as I gave Sarah the cannon and she started shooting as I formed my hands into mallets and started swinging to destroy any falling rocks.

"Oh! Oh God!" the Mayor yelled in terror as Ace, Lexi, Slam, Daniel, and Tech used their powers to get rid of any falling rocks.

"I thought the weather only called for partly rocky!" Ace quipped loudly as Sarah and I met up with him and the others on the stage.

"Looks like Misty fucking Breeze called it wrong again!" I yelled back as Sarah blasted a rock and Tech created a green shield to block any falling rocks.

"Rev, fetch the Neutron Cannon that Ethan and I developed!" Tech ordered Rev and the road runner sped to home and back in a second with three cannons.

"You didn't say if you wanted the Refracting Neutron Cannon, the Beam-Splitter Neutron Cannon, or the one that goes gah-gah-gah-gah," Rev said as he looked at the arsenal in his hands, and Tech simply grabbed the purple cannon before firing at many falling rocks.

"Haha! How's that for mind over matter?!" Lexi declared proudly after a display of her agility and her Brain Blasting.

Seeing that we were starting to run out of gas, Ace started speaking to Slam.

"Slam, set your spin cycle to suction!" Ace suggested as he kept using his optic vision, and Slam did his cue by creating a huge cyclone that diverted the rocks.

Rev took the opportunity to get people to safety while saying, "All aboard! Rev Runner express coming through! Alright ladies and gents, no need to pack your bags 'cause we're all traveling light!"

The Mayor looked around frantically and she saw a large rock falling down to where she was standing and she screamed, prompting Daniel to run over and quack her and himself to a tree branch, setting her down and standing next to her.

"Have no fear! Mayor Melody, your life has been officially saved by Danger Duck!" Daniel declared proudly, not noticing the branch was cracking due to the Mayor's and his combined weight.

"Well, thanks-" the Mayor started to say gratefully, but the branch broke and she fell down screaming until she crashed into a crumpled heap on the ground and Daniel winced.

"Kinda..." Daniel trailed off in embarrassment, grimacing and and wanting to facepalm himself for what just happened.

Eventually, the meteor shower stopped and we had managed to keep the stones from hurting anyone. Sarah gave me back the cannon as we all examined the destruction.

"Damn...talk about a real fixer-upper. Alright, lets head back to H.Q. so that we can figure this out," Ace suggested as I walked over to the Mayor and helped her up just as her security team quickly approached.

"Thank you," the Mayor told me as she brushed herself off.

"No problem. Get to safety and notify the Governor about this. Have him declare a state of emergency because this is only the beginning," I instructed and the Mayor nodded seriously as she was led out of the park by her security team.

 _"This isn't over...not even close,"_ I thought grimly as Sarah walked over and I put my arm around her shoulder as we and the others headed to the bikes.

* * *

"Okay Tech, Ethan, time to make with the big words," Ace told us while we were sitting in the conference room.

Tech took that as his cue to activate one of the screens that showed the meteor falling and hitting the city bay, making me tense up as horrific memories of that day came back and Sarah leaned onto my shoulder to reassure me, causing me to look and smile at her.

"The Meteor that hit Acmetropolis a year ago was only a trial run," Tech began as he showed a size comparison of Slam, the first meteor, and a meteor that was much bigger.

"Only this one is 500 times bigger than the original," I finished darkly as I changed the picture to show a satellite shot of the giant meteor approaching the planet in the distance.

"Kinda makes ya miss the good ol' days, huh?" Ace questioned all of us.

"Well, if the meteor didn't hit the city, Tech and I wouldn't have met you guys and I wouldn't have met Sarah," I said and Sarah and I kissed.

"Oh gag me...so let me get this straight! When the next damn meteor hits, everyone will have superpowers?! Ha, I don't need that kind of fucking competition!" Daniel exclaimed and I Gibbs-slapped him behind the head for his stupidity, causing Daniel to yelp in pain and he glared at me.

"Wake up and think logically, you dumbass! If that giant fucking thing hits the planet, there won't be anyone left since the planet will shatter and all life, along with us will die!" I lectured sternly until Zadavia's voice sounded out.

"You're absolutely right, Ethan," our team founder agreed as she appeared in holo-mode and continued, " which is why you have to journey into space before that meteor hits Earth."

"Well, don't worry your wealthy little head, boss lady. We laugh at danger: hahahahaha!" Daniel put in the laugh for dramatic effect and added a comment that he was going to regret, "Besides, what's so terrifying about a little space voyage?"

"Well, there's cosmic rays, air loss, engine failure, zero gravity, deadly aliens, black holes, supernovas-" Rev listed as he zipped up next to the mallard, and was cut off when Daniel sighed and looked down in defeat.

"See? Laughing already," Daniel stated nervously as he paled.

"Zadavia out," Zadavia said as she disconnected and we all went to get ready for what could be our last mission.

* * *

We all did what we could to prepare for this big mission as the day and night dragged on. Sarah, Tech and I worked on the Tech E. Coyote and Ethan Matthews Space Stream 8000, a space ship that looked like a replica of an old movie UFO, and we finished fast with the three of us working together. Sarah and I left the Lab and headed to the Training Room so that I could train extra hard to prepare for the worst case scenario. After meeting Ace inside the room, the two of us worked hard against holograms of robots while Sarah was watching.

"Coming to you Ace!" I declared as I stretched and coiled my arm around a robot, tossing it to Ace who sends it crashing down with an ax kick.

I met up with Ace and we nodded, merging into a hybrid form of a bunny and human as we used our elasticity and optic blasts.

"Engaging anti-gravity sensors," the computer droned as we backflipped to a table with weapons, and we grabbed a black and red pole to smash a robot with a hard jab.

We wrapped our torso around a robot like a snake and we crushed it just as Lexi came into the room.

"Couldn't sleep you two? I usually count sheep, but that's just me," Lexi announced as she pushed a few buttons, turning off the holograms and we landed on the ground as we separated into our normal forms.

"This is the biggest mission we've ever been on. Gotta be ready for anything," Ace stated while he did a few martial arts moves with the staff. Lexi tossed towels at us so that we could wipe off our sweat.

"He's right. We don't know what we're walking into, so we need to prepare for the worst case scenario. Murphy's law states that 'anything that can go wrong, will go wrong' so there is no telling what could happen while we're up there," I stated as I wiped off the sweat from my face and Sarah walked over so that she could kiss me.

"I'm sure it'll be fine because you two always land on your feet," Lexi reassured.

"I've had a lot of practice," Ace stated seriously as the large yellow triangle on his suit glowed.

* * *

 _Acmetropolis, California, March 7, 2772, 20 minutes until meteor strike._

 _"Oh God, no!" A young blond haired woman screamed in terror as she was cornered in an alley by a large robot._

 _"Destroy humanity, destroy," the robot droned as it stopped and analyzed its prey. A gloved hand tapped its shoulder, and it turned around to see a bald man with tan skin wearing a red t-shirt, blue vest, gray gloves, and blue jeans that were tucked into gray combat boots._

 _"Sorry bucket boy, not today," the man taunted as he made a 'come get me' gesture with his hand and he went into a fighting stance._

 _"Destroy humanity, destroy," the robot repeated until a voice called out._

 _"And...cut!" the voice ordered and the robot stopped as the director of the movie set walked over to the human actor and praised, "Oh ho ho! Van, babe! Faboo! Hahaha, take a break while we shoot the fight scene, hmm? Haha!"_

 _The actor known as Van nodded as he walked off set and the movie director yelled, "Where the hell is that stunt rabbit?!"_

 _"Yeah, that would be stunt bunny," Ace told his boss smartly as he walked over with a head mask and wearing the same clothes that Van was wearing._

 _"Whatever. Now, as we rehearsed, hmm?" the man suggested rather rudely with an uncaring expression._

 _"Whoa whoa, slow down there, Doc! See, I've got some ideas you're gonna love. Now, when the robot comes at me, how about I do some some of these, huh? Some of these, hyah! And a couple of these!" Ace offered while showing off some moves, but the movie director was not amused at this and leaned into his face with an irritated glare._

 _"Um...no. You see, I am the director, which makes me the boss, which means you do the scene the way I tell you to do the scene," the movie director told him smugly as he picked up the mask that Ace had dropped and shoved it into the Ace's hands before walking away._

 _Once the movie director gave the go-ahead to start the fight scene, the robot grabbed Ace by the ears before he could put on the mask and put him through a world of agony while he was making noises of pain from the robot beating the hell out of him. Eventually, the robot prop let go of him and Ace stumbled forward, his costume in tatters and his ears painfully bent. Ace let out a groan as he wobbled and fell to the ground with a crash, sitting up with a wince from the bruises and the black eye that were started to form. Strangely, he felt the ground start to shake._

 _Suddenly, a ball of light came falling from the sky and everyone ran in terror as Ace looked up. To his horror, he saw that the light was a meteor._

 _"Oh shit!" Ace exclaimed as the meteor hit the bay nearby and a shockwave started destroying buildings and sending cars along with people flying as it approached._

 _Ace staggered to his feet and ran just as the movie director let out a girly shriek. Ace was sent flying and hit a building hard, blacking out from the pain as rubble buried him._

* * *

"It's showtime," Ace stated as Lexi, Sarah, and I left the Training room.

The three of us walked until we wound up in the conference room and saw Daniel looking out the window just in case there were more meteor showers.

"Any sign of more meteor showers, Danny?" Lexi asked as we approached.

"Nope, but the fit and handsome superhero stands calm yet focused, confident that should danger arise, he is ready to protect the lives of his-" Daniel answered her in a dramatic way, but he was cut off by Sarah.

"A simple no would've sufficed, Daniel," Sarah said irritably while crossing her arms and asked, "Have you always been like this before you met the others?"

"Stoic and resolved to be the best superhero ever? Why yes. Seems like yesterday," Daniel said as the orange triangle on his suit glowed.

* * *

 _Acmetropolis, California, March 7, 2772, 18 minutes before meteor strike._

 _"The bronzed and handsome lifeguard sits calm yet focused, confident that should danger arise, he is ready to protect the lives of his-" Daniel monologued to himself as he sat on the lifeguard's chair, and got interrupted when the real lifeguard came over and lifted him out of the chair by his shirt._

 _"Yo Danny! Quit screwing around! Get out of my fucking chair and do your damn job! Pool boy! Oh, and make sure you use the net," the human male said as he shoved a net into Daniel's hands and pushed him to a corner of the pool._

 _"Use the net...use the net. Fucking hell, talk about a waste of talent," Daniel grumbled as he used the net to search for anything that was out of place. He fished up a diaper and groaned in disgust._

 _"Egh...another treasure from the deep," Daniel muttered sarcastically just as a woman came over with her baby and she snatched the diaper before she walked away._

 _"Oh God, just put me out of my fucking misery!" Daniel snapped in frustration just as the ground started rumbling. Daniel let out a noise of confusion when he saw a light falling from the sky, only for his eyes to widen in horror when he saw that the light was a falling meteor that hit somewhere in the distance and a shockwave quickly approached._

 _"I was kidding! I was just fucking kidding!" Daniel chanted in panic and screamed in terror as he was sent flying through a department store window and blacked out._

* * *

"Well, I gotta hand it to you Danny. You sure as hell have gone a long way since diaper duty," Lexi remarked as we watched Daniel shake his head.

"You got that right, toots. You got to be fearless when you step into the spotlight like me," Daniel stated arrogantly as he thumbed himself and crossed his arms smugly.

"I know what it's like to be in the spotlight," Lexi said quietly as the pink triangle on her suit glowed.

* * *

 _Acme University, Acmetropolis, California, March 7, 2772, 19 minutes before the meteor strike._

 _"Welcome everyone to this year's tryouts for Acmetropolis University spirit squad. As you know, the competition is particularly tough this year, so super good luck to you all," the head cheerleader encouraged while waving her pink pompoms. She looked at the clipboard the boy next to her was holding and said, "First up, Lexi, um, Bunny?"_

 _"Okay Lex...don't screw up," Lexi thought as she approached anxiously._

 _"Anytime you're ready," the head cheerleader said irritably._

 _Lexi performed by doing a handstand, front flip, a small moonwalk, spinning counter-clockwise on one foot, moving both fists diagonally to either side of the position of her feet, another flip, and finishing with a split and raised arms. That performance won over the other competitors and two of the three judges._

 _"Holy shit! I've never seen anything like it! She's even better than you!" the male judge with short brown hair and glasses told the head cheerleader, who was perturbed as the female judge with green hair clapped._

 _"That was a cute routine Lexi, but I'm afraid you don't have what it takes," the head cheerleader stated condescendingly._

 _The two judges did a double take at the girl as the other competitors booed and hissed and Lexi was looking truly depressed, wondering what she did wrong as the building started to shake violently._

 _"Oh my God! What the fuck is that?!" the male judge questioned in panic as the ceiling started caving in._

 _Everyone screamed and ran for cover as Lexi quickly got up just in time for the rubble to crash into the gym, and the shockwave killed a few people while those who were still alive were blown out of the building. Lexi was sent flying and she hit her head as she crashed through a wall, blacking out in the process._

* * *

"I'm ready for this mission, and I know I'll be as brave as you, Danny," Lexi declared as she looked at Daniel.

"Dare to dream Lexi...dare to dream," Daniel said as Lexi, Sarah, and I left the room.

Sarah and I separated from Lexi and went into my room so that we could have privacy. We laid down on the bed and held each other close while I felt tense.

"Are you okay Ethan? You feel tense," Sarah asked in concern.

"Sorry...it's just that, well...I'm scared," I admitted and Sarah looked at me in surprise.

"Scared? What's wrong?" Sarah inquired.

"It's just that...I don't know what's going to happen when we go up there or how things will turn out. Just those two things are enough to terrify me and there's a good chance that we might not all come back from this mission," I explained and Sarah held my left cheek with a hand.

"You and the others will do fine. You and your friends are the Loonatics, who have fought very nasty people and monsters in the past," Sarah reassured me.

"That's the thing, we didn't ask for this fucking life. We didn't ask to get these gifts and have this enormous responsibility thrown upon us. Hell, before the meteor hit, I was just a college student trying to make a living...we were all normal everyday people with normal everyday lives that had something extraordinary happen to us, and now we are trying to save an entire planet from being destroyed," I told her.

"Don't worry. No matter what happens, I'll be there for you," Sarah vowed, then she kissed me and moved on top of me.

We kept locking lips and making out as I caressed Sarah's slender form, our passion getting more heated until my com-link rang and we let out a groan as Sarah got off me and flopped beside me just as I answered.

"Yes, what is it Tech?" I questioned.

"I just wanted to call you and say that the ship is ready for deployment," Tech told me.

"Okay, let the others know. I'll be right there," I stated, then shut off the com-link and got up off the bed.

"Ethan, is there anything I can do to help while you and the others are gone?" Sarah asked me, and I put my hand on my chin thoughtfully until I had an idea.

"I know. How about you monitor the situation here and let us know if you notice anything suspicious," I offered and Sarah perked up.

"That sounds good. Sure, I'll do that," Sarah agreed as she got up and we kissed once.

"Then it's settled," I said as we left the room and headed to the roof.

* * *

"So, uh, Tech, Ethan, how are you two going to get us up to that space rock?" Ace asked us and Tech and I grinned as we stood in front of the ship that was covered by a large tarp.

"Presenting the Tech E. Coyote and Ethan Matthews Space Stream 8000!" Tech declared proudly as he pulled the rope that was connected to the tarp, and it fell away to show everyone the ship.

"Kind of a little retro, don't you think?" Daniel criticized while Tech was twiddling his two index fingers.

"No. In fact, it's just what we need to destroy that meteor," I clarified as I took out the ship's blueprints to show him and the others the device.

Tech, Ace, Lexi, Rev, Daniel, Slam, and I got into the ship, and Sarah and I waved at each other as Tech and I started the ship.

"Oh shit, Ethan. If only the fellows back at the Acme Tech institute could see us now," Tech told me with a grin and I nodded in agreement as the green triangle on his suit glowed.

"It'll work, we know it," I stated as I pressed the ignition button, and the panels on the ship opened before we took off.

"Perfect takeoff," Tech said as we headed into space.

"Tech, Ethan, nice work," Ace praised us.

"It may be retro, but it's cool," Lexi commented.

"Yeah, cool...for a flying dinner plate," Daniel insulted, and I shot a glare at him for a second before focusing back on flying.

 _"Dad...if you were here, would you be proud?"_ I thought as the silver triangle on my suit started glowing and I recalled the last day I spent with my father before he went missing.

* * *

 _Kelly Ingram Park, Birmingham, Alabama, June 20, 1994._

 _"Okay son, the principle of aerodynamics is that you need the right speed and propulsion so that the plane gets enough lift to take off, understand?" my dad asked me._

 _"Yes Daddy," I said while we were building a remote-controlled toy plane and I asked, "Daddy, are we going to see uncle M.J. tomorrow when he plays?"_

 _"Of course Son, and I'm sure he would be happy to see you again. Now, let's see if this thing will work," my Daddy mumbled the last part as we set the plane down and Daddy handed me the controls._

 _I pushed a button and the propellers spun as I moved one of the levers. As I moved another lever, the toy plane took off into the air._

 _"I did It! It's flying!" I cheered in excitement as my Daddy ruffled my hair._

 _"Good job son, ya did it!" my Daddy congratulated me as we watched the plane flying around in the air._

 _"Daddy, I don't want this to end. Do you think we could do this every day when you are not busy?" I asked him innocently._

 _"Sure Son, because I don't want this to end either. Now, it's starting to get dark, so we need to get home," my Daddy told me as I brought the plane down and we walked back to the car._

 _"I love you, Daddy," I told him as we put the plane inside the trunk._

 _"Aww, thank you. I love you too, Son. Now lets get home before it gets dark," he told me as we got into the car Daddy drove us home._

 _As I was sat in the back seat, I wanted my Daddy to always be there for me, not knowing that this was the last time I would ever spend time with him or see him ever again._

* * *

 _"I love you Dad...and I hope I find you one day,"_ I thought solemnly as we headed into space, and I contacted Sarah.

"Sarah? This is Ethan. Do you read?" I asked into the communication's hub.

"Loud and clear. How are things on your end?" Sarah asked.

"It should be a smooth ride from here, but keep scanning just in case," I instructed as the ship left the atmosphere and Sarah okayed me until we approached a meteor shower.

"Brace yourselves, approaching light meteor shower," Tech informed us just as Sarah contacted us.

"Guys, I'm detecting some strange energy readings that are fast approaching your location. Be on high alert," Sarah notified us just as the ship started shaking.

"Is this your idea of a smooth ride?" Daniel stated as the ship was shaking and the worst thing happened-the engines stopped working.

"Uh, Tech, Ethan, why does it sound like the engines just stopped?" Ace asked us nervously.

"Maybe we are just hearing things?" I said uncertainly and prayed that I was right, but I had an ugly feeling in my gut that I was dead wrong.

"Uh, well, that would be because the engines just died," Tech stated with a nervous laugh and we all started screaming as the ship flipped and turned uncontrollably on its way back down to Earth.

"Oh fuck...gonna hurl!" I cried out in distress as I felt bile starting to come up, but I forced it down.

"I think I just threw up in my bill!" Daniel groaned uncomfortably as we kept falling.

"Don't you dare throw up in here! This ship is brand new!" I exclaimed warningly.

"We're fucking dead! Completely and utterly fucking dead!" Daniel cried out in complete panic as he looked out the window.

"Sarah, can you hear me?" Tech spoke into his com-link.

"Oh thank God! What the hell is going on up there?! The scanners are saying that the ship's engines are dead!" Sarah exclaimed in alarm.

"No time to explain. I want you to upload a copy of the control system software so we can reboot the system," Tech instructed her calmly and we waited until the ship powered up just as we were about to hit the city streets.

Before we became street pizza, I quickly navigated the ship out of danger while Daniel screamed in sheer terror.

"We're all dead!" Daniel yelled until he saw that we were out of danger and said, "Oh."

"Okay, now it should be smooth sailing from here. Thanks, babe," I told the last part to Sarah on the com-link.

"No problem," Sarah replied.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I hope this is the good smooth as opposed to the bad smooth," Daniel retorted irritably but I ignored his complaining as we reached the asteroid belt.

"Once we get through the asteroid belt, we should see our target," Tech said as we flew through the space belt.

"If our damn target doesn't see us first," Ace commented as he kept looking out the window and Rev went to defend Tech from the negative remark.

"Hey, you don't have to worry about that Ace, because Tech, Ethan, and Sarah have plotted us a course that allows us to avoid any contact with any large object and if anybody can do that, It's my favorite scientists Tech, Ethan, and Sarah," Rev defended as we were currently in the thick of the space belt and he casually added, "And besides, the statistical probability of an impact of even here in the asteroid belt is fairly minute-"

"Watch out guys, I'm picking up more strange energy readings coming your way!" Sarah interrupted urgently on our communications hub just as we were starting to be pelted by space boulders.

"Rev, you want to recheck those numbers?" Ace suggested as we kept getting pounded.

"Then, uh, recheck why those rocks are using us for a punching bag?!" Daniel exclaimed in frustration and I went to put in my theory on why this was happening.

"Hold on, whenever something happens to us, Sarah informs us that she is picking up strange energy readings, so I'm getting the feeling that something is doing this to prevent us from stopping the meteor," I told everyone, and they all looked thoughtful.

"You're right Ethan, but let's stop the stone projectiles hitting our baby first. Everyone into your inter-cosmic spacesuits," Tech instructed.

"Do we get our choice of colors?" Lexi questioned with an eager expression.

"Well no, but it'll keep you from imploding," I remarked as I stood up to show a metal backpack and walked over to the center of the ship. A light turned on and I was covered in a thin blue membrane as I added, "Voilà, and it locks in freshness."

Tech, Ace, Lexi, Daniel, Slam, and Rev followed my lead and got covered in the spacesuits as I got ready.

"Wait, where the hell is Slam?" Ace wondered when he noticed that we were one team member short, and Lexi looked out the window and chuckled.

"He's already outside slamming away," Lexi pointed out as we saw Slam hitting space rocks with a club made of stone.

"Fore!" Slam declared as he whacked a boulder away, laughing as he hit another boulder and added, "Five!"

"I haven't seen Slam have this much fun since his wrestling days," Lexi commented as Slam kept swinging.

"Batter, batter, batter! Swing batter!" Slam cried out in glee, not knowing that he was about to be hit from behind by a large boulder.

"Holy shit! Heads up Slam!" Ace tried to warn him, but he was too late when Slam got clocked from behind and was sent floating.

Ace, Lexi, Daniel, Rev, and I left the ship and went to help him as I saw the purple triangle on Slam's suit glowing.

* * *

 _Acmetropolis, California, March 7, 2772, 13 minutes before meteor strike._

 _"And now this week's raging fight of the millennium your favorite, Carlos The Conqueror!" the official announced as he gestured to a man with a prosthetic metal left arm, who was wearing a blue, yellow, and red outfit. He raised his arms and the crowd cheered._

 _"And his opponent. The Terror From Somewhere, Twisted Spinner!" the ref declared as he pointed to Slam, who leaped down from the top rope and slammed his fists down with a determined growl, The ref gestured the two men to come close._

 _"Remember you furry freak, make it look good when you lose," Carlos whispered to Slam in a French accent once they got close enough, implying that Carlos expected to take a nosedive so that it would make him look good._

 _"I'm gonna win!" Slam argued at the man, already vowing that he would play the game honorably; taking a dive was not honorable, it was dishonest._

 _"Just take the fall, you fils de pute!" Carlos snapped in irritation but Slam let out a garble that almost sounded like a "Hell no!"._

 _"Oh, excuse me, Mr. Tasmanian," Carlos apologized while offering a handshake._

 _Slam took the handshake and was taken off guard when Carlos spun around and threw Slam into the ropes. The Devil launched off the ropes and was sent crashing to the floor of the ring._

 _"Argh! Okay asshole, if that's the way you want to play it!" Slam garbled angrily as he stood up and glared at the dishonorable man who was soaking in the crowd's praise._

 _Slam retaliated by jumping up and landing on the man's shoulders, using the momentum to send Carlos out of the ring with a flip. The man went crashing right into a trio of fellow wrestlers who were cheering for Carlos just as the stadium started shaking and a ball of light passed just above until it crashed into the bay nearby._

 _"Huh? Pretty," Slam mumbled in awe at the ball of light, but his eyes widened in horror when the building started falling apart and collapsing around everyone._

 _The crowd, ref, and the wrestlers screamed as they all frantically tried to get out while security led them to the exits, but a shockwave came out of nowhere and sent them crashing into walls and through windows. Slam was running in terror as he tried to get away, but just as he left the stadium, he was sent flying and bounced off a parked car, crashed through a wall into a nearby building, and blacked out from the agony that ran through his body._

* * *

"Alright slugger, way to save the day," Daniel congratulated Slam as he put a large arm around his shoulder and Slam wiggled his fingers in greeting.

"Alright big guy, let's get you back to the ship," I said as I put Slam's other arm around my shoulder. Daniel and I took the devil back inside the ship with the others right behind us.

After heading back inside, we took off our spacesuits and continued to track our target.

"Meteor dead ahead," Lexi informed us and the object in question came into view.

"Holy shit...seeing it on a satellite video is one thing, but to see up close and-" I started to say in awe, but one of the jagged rocks at the bottom of the meteor struck the ship and we all went topsy-turvy.

"Oh God! Are you guys sure that we can destroy that fucking thing?!" Daniel cried out in alarm as Tech and I stabilized the ship.

"Yes. To insure destruction before it reaches Earth, Ethan, Sarah, and I designed this device which will amplify Ace's laser by a full factor of, you guessed it, googol," Tech explained as he showed the specs of a periscope, which was at the base of the ship.

"A goo what?" Daniel questioned in confusion and Rev humored him.

"A googol is a numeral one followed by a 100 zeros which were invented by American Mathematician Edward Kasner, born 1878, died 1955. And the reason they call it a googol was because Edward asked his nephew, who was 8 at the time, what name he would give a really big number-" Rev explained as he was rocking his chair and he got cut off.

"Okay! Yawn! Really bored now! Stop, for fuck's sake!" Daniel groaned out in exasperation and Rev started glaring at him for being cut off so rudely as we flew up to where we could see the surface of the meteor.

Ace activated the periscope and moved his chair in front of it.

"Here goes nothing," Ace declared as he gripped the handles and looked through the scope.

Ace fired his strongest attack through the scope and a massive beam struck the meteor, causing a massive explosion. Smoke covered the area where the meteor used to be.

"Holy shit! Ace, you did it!" Lexi cheered in victory.

"Holy shit! Ace, you didn't do it!" Daniel corrected just as the smoke cleared up, and the rest of us looked through out monitors to see the meteor still standing without any damage sustained.

"What the hell?! That blast only peeled off a layer of atmospheric dust! That's fucking impossible! No known mineral in existence can withstand that kind of punishment!" I exclaimed in shock.

"Maybe Ethan, maybe. But if we don't find another way to stop that thing, then Earth will be nothing more than a big pile of atmospheric dust," Ace stated as he turned the chair to look at me with a grim expression.

"Guys, we got to take out that meteor before it hits the planet," Lexi pointed out with a worried look and I knew that if we didn't succeed, everyone we cared about, along with all life on the planet would die.

"No more Earth?! No more gloomy dark skies?! Oh God, whatever will we do?!" Daniel cried out in horror and wept dramatically until he stopped and casually asked, "So, what planet do we move to next?"

I walked over and put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing a little forcefully as I said lowly, "We're not out of the game yet. And Daniel, did you forget that people we care about, including my girlfriend, are down there, and that they will all die if we don't stop that meteor?"

Daniel gulped a little as I gave him a hard stare, feeling very pissed that our vain team member was considering on abandoning our home and the 8 billion lives that inhabited it.

"Ethan...I've been thinking about your theory about something being behind all of this and I think you might be right. First the saucer conked out, then those asteroids came after us, and now that hunk of rock turns out to be laser proof. Time for plan B," Ace said with a raised index finger.

"Next time, let us start with plan B," Lexi commented as we all stood up from our chairs.

"We land on the meteor, plant some charges a precise stress points, and get the hell out of dodge before the big kaboom," Ace told us as several charges that looked like upgraded pieces of dynamite came up from the floor.

"Okay everyone, put on your inter-cosmic spacesuits. Come on," Rev encouraged as we put on our spacesuits and grabbed spare bags from compartments so that we could put the explosives in them.

"Okey-dokey Rev, you're the fastest so we're counting on you to plant most of the charges," Ace instructed as he handed Rev a bag filled with loads of explosives.

"You can count on me Ace. They don't call me the speed demon of Acmetropolis. But of course I haven't always been the fastest, but that's a different story as it happened a long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long time ago," Rev ranted as the red triangle on his suit started glowing.

* * *

 _Quick Wrap Sandwich Shack, Acmetropolis, California, March 7, 2772, 5 minutes before meteor strike._

 _"We guarantee a free lunch in 30 minutes. You have 5 minutes to get there or I'll take it out of your pay," An overweight bald man wearing an apron threatened Rev, who saluted and grinned._

 _"Don't you worry Cookie, I'm on it," Past Rev vowed in a much slower speech and took the bag of food._

 _Rev left the fast food building and added, "Rocket blades, don't fail me now!"_

 _Rev used his roller blades with built-in rockets to move fast throughout the city streets and took a shortcut by grinding on a train. Rev sped past a few men working on a section of road, and he ignored their shouting as he arrived at his destination and ran up all 22 steps, breathlessly stopping in front of a man wearing a security uniform._

 _"Quick Wrap Sandwich Shack...we deliver in 30 minutes or your meal is-" Rev started to say and was cut off by the unamused human._

 _"For free. My watch says one minute past 12; you're late," the man pointed out as he looked at his watch._

 _"Well, your watch must be fast because-" Rev tried to deny, but was cut off again when the man grabbed the bag of food and glared at him irritably._

 _"Better move faster next time, dickhead," the man retorted and went into the government building, leaving a crushed Rev outside on the steps._

 _"But...but I won't get paid," Rev said depressingly as he turned away and looked down crestfallen._

 _Suddenly, the ground started shaking and Rev gasped in shock as he looked up and saw a meteor falling from the sky. The space rock crashed into the bay and a shockwave fast approached as it destroyed buildings, and sent cars along with people flying._

 _"Oh, Jesus!" Rev cried out in terror and used his roller blades to try to escape, but he was sent flying by the force and blacked out when he crashed through an office building window._

* * *

"You won't have to dock my pay this time, Cookie," Rev blurted out after being quiet for a little bit and Ace and I looked at him in confusion.

"Uh, Rev, who the hell's Cookie?" I questioned my spaced out teammate, and Rev snapped out of it.

"What? Who? I mean Ace!" Rev stammered out and I had an idea.

"Ace, I copied Rev's super speed last year, so how about the two of us work together to plant the charges," I offered and Ace nodded.

"You have a point Ethan, 'cause that would make things go a lot faster. Alright team, you know what to do," Ace said as the ship landed on the meteor and we all left to carry out the plan.

"Is it too late for plan C?" Daniel questioned as we all separated.

"Suck it the hell up, Danny!" I called out to him as I used my super speed to move around the meteor.

Daniel flew to his location and landed as he checked his holo-map and saw that he was at the place to set the charge.

"X marks the spot for the big kaboom," Daniel muttered to himself as he put the holo-map away, taking out an explosive and placing it carefully as he monologued, "Now, the brave space ranger positions his charges. If he's off by one micron, the entire mission will fail."

Daniel felt a presence behind him and he slowly turned his head to see a tendril in the shape of stone.

"Oh, crap..." Daniel squeaked and started dodging the tendril's swipes until he was caught.

"Screw this, I'm quacking out of here!" Daniel declared and did just that, only he accidentally quacked out of his suit and discovered that he couldn't breathe.

"Oh God, no air, bad fucking idea!" Daniel choked out as he comically swelled up like a hot air balloon, and he quacked back into his suit that was hanging on the edge of the tendril.

"Now, where was I?" Daniel questioned until he saw that he was hanging onto the tendril and added, "Oh, right."

While Daniel was busy getting slammed to the ground by the tendril over and over, Ace and Slam were about to place an explosive onto their spot.

"Okay, let's get these babies planted," Ace said to Slam, who chuckled in response.

Just before they could start setting the explosives, they were suddenly sinking into the ground and they struggled until Ace held out a hand.

"Don't move!" Ace told Slam and used his optics vision to blast the rock around Slam to free him.

Slam returned the favor by jumping high and using his tornado power to pull Ace out of the ground and they flew back to the ship.

Meanwhile, Lexi was flying into a cave and she was about to place her explosives.

"Time to blast you out of orbit," Lexi muttered as she placed the explosive.

Suddenly, Lexi heard a noise and looked behind her, only to start displaying her agility and Brain Blasts when the cave started to collapse. Lexi managed to get out by doing cartwheels and front flips until she raised her arms in victory.

Tech was standing at one spot of the meteor when I showed up fast with one explosive.

"Done already?" Tech asked me.

"Just one more to place down. I figured we could place two together to give it a little more oomph," I said as I placed the explosive down and suddenly our bombs started counting down.

"Oh shit, something set off the timer!" Tech notified me just as Rev rushed over and took the bombs.

"Be right back!" Rev said as he passed us and I felt panic rush through me when I looked at my wrist computer.

"Shit Rev, get rid of those fucking things! They're about to explode!" I warned the speedster of the team urgently.

Rev did a u-turn and tossed the bombs, but they bounced off of some invisible force and both explosives landed in the hands of me and Tech, the two of us looking at each other with dull expressions.

"Fuck...not again," We said together in a surprised/dull tone until the bombs exploded and the smoke cleared up to show our spacesuits still intact, but we looked charred all over with bloodshot eyes.

"Agh...didn't need that..." I groaned out in pain just as Rev came zooming over.

"Fuck me, did you see that?! It stopped in mid-air, man! How do you guys explain that? But really guys, thank you for saving my life," Rev said to the two heaps of insulated ashes, and we looked at him.

"A pleasure as always..." Tech and I squeaked out as we reformed, despite being in so much agony. I groaned a little as the others arrived without Daniel.

"Tech, Ethan, you guys put the boom in 'kaboom'," Lexi quipped and I shot her a withering glare for her remark.

Seeing that we were one team member short, Ace contacted Daniel on his com-link.

"Hey, uh, Danny, care to join us?" Ace questioned humorously and we heard Daniel screaming and struggling against something.

"Shit! I'll be right there!" Daniel yelped as the rest of us went into the ship and waited.

"The other charges are about to blow!" Tech informed us and our worry grew at that news.

"Danny!" Ace exclaimed in alarm as our teammate showed up and flew into the ship.

"Tech, Ethan, get us the fuck outta here!" Ace ordered us, and I piloted the ship as it got away from the explosion, the seven of us breathing out a sigh of relief.

"Well, what do ya know, it worked," Ace commented after looking out the window, and Tech and I took offense to his lack of faith.

"You say that like you're surprised," I remarked with a slight look of irritation as Zadavia contacted us.

"Congratulations team, Earth is breathing a big sigh of relief right now," Zadavia praised us.

"Hey there, boss lady. Didn't think we could do it, huh?" Daniel challenged.

"Oh Daniel, I always have faith in the team...well, most of the team," Zadavia said.

"Huh, is that aimed at him or someone else?" I questioned our team founder, who looked hesitant.

"You don't want to know," Zadavia remarked, giving me a copped out answer while Ace looked thoughtful.

"Huh, the mission may be accomplished, but this whole thing has got me thinking...what was causing so many problems on this mission? There's something big going on. Something really, really big," Ace theorized and I nodded.

"You're right Ace. My theory about something being behind this is looking more and more likely," I agreed as we approached Earth and added grimly, "We may have stopped the meteor, but something tells me that this isn't over."

* * *

Unknown to us, we were being watched by a man with purple hair and cybernetic implants, who was piloting a large red and black ship around a planet. The man hit the console in frustration at the failure of his plan and he started muttering about how his sister had made a fool out of him yet again.

"Twice, I have attempted to destroy Earth. The first time; I misjudged the meteor's affect. The second attempt was just demolished by those Acme heroes...but the third time, the third time will be the charm," the man vowed and started laughing darkly, knowing that he would be successful next time and that he would have his sister at his feet, begging for mercy.

* * *

"Ahh, feels good to be home," Ace said as we left the ship and went back inside the tower.

Sarah came walking over as we entered the living room and she kissed me.

"I knew you and the others would do it," Sarah told me as we held each other close.

"I'm just happy that we are all okay," I mumbled in response just as Ace spoke to me.

"Hey Ethan, do you want to play a one on one pool game?" Ace asked me.

"Sorry Ace, Sarah and I need some time alone," I refused and Ace nodded in understanding.

Ace gestured us to go, and Sarah and I went to my room. I took off my team uniform, leaving me in a tank-top and boxers as Sarah took off her clothes. We laid down on the bed, the two of us holding each other close as we fell asleep.


	11. The World Is My Circus

Loonatics Tower, Acmetropolis, California, April 7, 2773.

It had been a month since we stopped the meteor and things had been relatively quiet since then. The most exciting thing that happened was that a large ship had arrived in the city and although it looked like a normal spaceship on the outside, reports were stating that the inside resembled a literal three ring circus. I was sitting in the conference room with the others and Sarah, thinking about how people had been going missing for the last few weeks and wondering if the circus ship had anything to do with it. Tech and I were putting the final touches on two new guns and the others watched us in interest.

"Tech, Ethan, is that a new toy?" Lexi asked us, and we grinned in response.

"Presenting our latest and perhaps greatest invention, the Gluco-Gel 9000! The plasma energy core fires an impenetrable gelatinous substance which provides a safe effective way to trap all enemies," Tech explained gleefully while Lexi rested her head on her hand.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Where the hell is Zadavia? Did someone forget to pay the holo-com bill again?" Daniel questioned impatiently while he was pointing at the blank hologram.

"Patience is a virtue, Danny," Lexi remarked.

"What the hell are you, a fortune cookie?" Daniel retorted.

"It's not like her to stand us up. Are you sure we got the time right?" Ace wondered thoughtfully.

"I'm pretty sure...Zadavia's always punctual when it comes to giving out missions, but I have no idea what the hell is keeping her," I said, feeling concerned for our team founder and wondering if she was okay.

"Quiet guys, I'm hearing something I don't don't like," Lexi informed us.

"Oh for God's sake, it's probably the sound of Slam's stomach growling," Daniel stated in exasperation as he put a hand on Slam's stomach. The alarm went off and startled Slam and Daniel.

"Told you so," Lexi remarked smugly as she crossed her arms.

From out of nowhere, a hybrid animal of a monkey, cheetah, and chameleon appeared on the wall and crawled down to the floor. The animal pointed at the door, and we all stood up, confused.

"A hideous beast is invading HQ: run for your lives!" Daniel cried out in panic and the pointed looks that were thrown at him made him add, "I...mean...attack; attack!"

"Wait a damn second, Danny," Ace tried to reason when he saw the fear in the animal's eyes, but Daniel ignored him and chucked three eggs at the animal.

The animal dodged the attacks and jumped to the wall, where it disappeared and Daniel laughed triumphantly.

"Once again, I have saved the day!" Daniel declared with a fist pump, and the rest of us were not amused by his antics.

"Danny, give me a fucking break," Lexi groaned in exasperation while Tech, Sarah, and I were gently rubbing our eyes in annoyance.

The animal suddenly appeared from behind Ace and Daniel quacked in front of it. Daniel tried to grab the animal, but it jumped onto the top of his head and leaped into Ace's arms.

"I think it likes you, Ace," Lexi pointed out with a big grin as Ace seemed to spot something around its neck.

"Check out the collar, Lexi," Ace told her as he showed the rest of us a tag and he added, "It's from the space circus."

"Damn...a Galactic Oddity. Poor thing must've escaped and gotten lost," Lexi said softly as I walked over to get a good look.

"Most fascinating...I've never seen anything like this little fella before," I observed, examining him curiously.

The animal suddenly hopped out of Ace's arms and landed on my right shoulder, making me yelp in surprise and I stumbled as it laid down on my shoulders.

"Well Ethan, it seems to like you too," Sarah remarked with a grin.

"Eugh, don't touch it, for God's sake! It's probably infested with intergalactic bloodsucking fleas. I say we get rid of it: pronto," Daniel suggested and the animal on my shoulders shook its head frantically.

"I think it's time to take a trip to the big top: let's jet," Ace told us, but I raised my hand.

"Before we do that, we should place our intergalactic friend in a carrier so that she doesn't fall by accident, luckily Tech and I've got just the thing. It's a specially designed-" I started to explain, but Rev zipped out of the room and returned in a second with the object in question, making me add, "cage for small creatures. Thanks, Rev."

I took the cage and put it down, gently picking up the hybrid animal and putting her inside the cage just as Sarah approached.

"Ethan, is it alright if I came with you and the others? I really want to see the space circus," Sarah asked in excitedly.

"Why not? I would love it if you were with us," I agreed after I kissed her and we all went to the hanger to put on our jetpacks.

After putting on my jetpack, I handed the cage to Daniel and stretched my right arm like rubber to coil around Sarah's torso before I pulled her close and she placed her arms around my neck as I took off with the others.

"Maybe we'll get free passes to the Interstellar Orbiting Space Circus for doing a good deed by returning a Galactic Oddity to its home. Hell yeah, I love the circus! There's so much good stuff to eat: candy, popcorn, and delicious taffy, it'll be sweet, sweet, sweet!" Rev rambled in excitement as we flew to the giant ship that was hovering above the city and we landed inside the circus, taking our jetpacks off and I let go of Sarah while the hybrid animal chirped in agreement.

"Hey! Zip it lizard lips, this is all your fault," Daniel snapped angrily, causing Lexi and Sarah to start laughing.

Tech used his magnetic ability to lower the cage to the ground and he opened the cage door with the press of a button on his com-link.

"You're free to go, little one," Tech told the animal kindly, but I had a feeling that something was off when I noticed that it looked like it really didn't want to be here.

"You heard him, Chimp-Zilla! Shoo! Scram! Fuck off!" Daniel shouted at the animal while stomping towards it, causing the animal to leave the cage but it stopped at a nearby door and jumped up and down, gesturing for us to follow her.

"I think she wants us to follow her," Ace said as we all went after the animal and entered the building.

While we followed the animal, I couldn't help but have a bad feeling about this place and I held Sarah's hand as we went down the hallway and entered an exhibit room.

"Something in this place smells fishy..." Ace notified us while he smelled the air and saw a water tank with a hybrid of a camel and eel.

"Oh, that would be you," Ace added as we spotted our galactic friend zipping to a wall and disappearing.

"Sarah...stay close to me. Something about this place is giving me a bad feeling," I informed her as I gave her a blaster, and she nodded in agreement.

While we looked around, a door at the end of the room opened and I tensed up as two hybrid creatures of a vulture and rhino entered the room.

"Maybe these guys can help. We have your lost friend, can we have free passes to the circus? That would be sweet, sweet, sweet," Rev asked eagerly as Daniel grabbed our galactic friend by the tail and held her up.

"But first, take back your fuzzy lizard thing before we all catch monkey flu," Daniel suggested while said monkey hybrid kept trying to bite him, and the rhino hybrid smirked as his friend threw a punch and sent Daniel crashing into a wooden storage box.

"Okay, they're definitely not here to help," I remarked as Daniel picked himself up and glared at his attacker.

"Hey asshole, what the hell is wrong with you?! Okay, cocksucker, you asked for it! Eat egg, jackass!" Daniel declared as he formed an egg and chucked it at his attacker.

The rhino hybrid looked surprised for a moment before being sent flying when the egg hit it, and we all got ready to fight back against this ambush. Slam got started by revving up and knocking down the other one by plowing him over, just as Lexi spotted the first hybrid getting back up and charging at her. Lexi reacted by leaping up and brain blasting the hybrid, sending him crashing to the ground and Lexi stood in front of the unconscious hybrid just as the second hybrid went to attack her. Lexi prepared to fight back when a combo kick from Ace, Sarah, and I sent him through the doors he and his friend came through.

 _"Thank God Ace and I taught Sarah how to defend herself by teaching her martial arts,"_ I thought as Ace went to peer inside the large hole.

"And in the center ring..." Ace muttered under his breath and gestured for the rest of us to follow him.

"What, no clowns?" Lexi questioned as we all entered the room.

"Nope, not even a dancing bear...fascinatin'...Tech, Ethan, Sarah, check out the hardware," Ace told us while we all approached the large machine in the middle of the room.

Tech sat down in front of the computer and started to hack in while Sarah and I examined the large cylinder tubes.

"Hmm...looks like these are used for some kind of medical or scientific purpose. What do you think, Sarah?" I inquired thoughtfully and Sarah shrugged.

"Unless we can locate a log that documents this machine's workings, we won't be able to figure out how it works and what it's designed for," Sarah stated as we met up with Tech, who finished hacking the computer and the three of us became shocked and horrified by what we had found.

"How goes the hacking fellas?" Ace asked after regrouping with us.

"Oh my God...genetic manipulation codes," Tech responded while he showed him images of DNA structures and added, "Human mixed with every animal on the zoological spectrum...it's an experimentation log and a very disturbing one."

"Jesus...what kind of sick motherfucker would pervert science like this?" I wondered with a look of disgust, only to be stunned when I saw pictures of the very people who had gone missing for the past few weeks.

"Holy shit...I know them. These are people who have disappeared over the past four weeks...the owner of this circus has been kidnapping people and experimenting on them to alter their genetic code, changing them into the so-called Galactic Oddities we are currently seeing in this place," I explained, feeling understandably pissed and revolted at the horrors we had discovered.

"So let me get this straight, these freaks used to be human?" Lexi wondered with an expression of shock and disgust.

I was seething, wanting to find the person responsible for this and break every bone in his body for the many human rights violations he had committed. Suddenly, alarms broke out and the door we came through was blocked with a new one.

"Shit, it's a trap!" Ace yelled in alarm just as the large eight tubes rose up and sucked each of us into one of them.

"Sarah! Fuck! Are you okay?!" I shouted in a panic as I tried to break the glass with my powers, but to no avail.

"I'm okay! We need to find a way to break the glass so that we can escape!" Sarah replied while hitting the glass with her fists.

Tech tried to use his magnetic ability, but nothing worked, which caused him to say, "These cylinders must've been designed to withstand our individual powers."

Just as he said that two men dressed as jesters with unnerving grins on their faces entered the room. The first man was tall with a goatee while the second man was short and chubby.

"Brilliant observation. They don't call you, Mr. Matthews, and Miss Williams eggheads for nothing," the man remarked with a cruel smirk.

"That's Dr. Eggheads to you, asshole and you know our names," I retorted with a fiery glare, livid at seeing the one man who was responsible for kidnapping and experimenting on innocent people without their consent.

"Of course I know your names since it pays to know who I'm going to add to my collection," the man stated while Sarah shivered from the creepy look he shot at her.

"So, who the hell are you, Fancy-pants?" Ace questioned with a steely look, and the man puffed up his chest arrogantly.

"They call me the Ringmaster," the Ringmaster declared while leaning towards Ace, who looked none-too-impressed at the name.

"Doesn't ring a bell, so you might want to hire yourself a publicist?" Ace offered while winking at me, and I took his invitation of pissing this guy off so that he would make a mistake.

"Come to think of it, I think I had heard that there were a few camera crews at his show, but they all thought he was crazy so they decided against it," I chimed in with a cheeky grin, causing the Ringmaster to point at me while looking irritated.

"I am the greatest showman in the universe! And you, my friends, are about to become my new opening act," the Ringmaster declared while laughing psychotically.

 _"Jesus...this guy is completely out of his fucking mind. All the more reason to kick his ass,"_ I thought while I studied my prison for any weaknesses.

* * *

I had kept trying to find any weaknesses that could help me escape but nothing worked, and I was forced to sit down in order to get comfortable while the Ringmaster and his short assistant worked on the machine.

"Hey Ringo, what's with the carnie contraption?" Ace asked with a bored expression as he sat down.

"I'm always trying to improve my big-top, so I had this device built to accommodate your unique genetic makeup," the Ringmaster explained while gesturing to the machine that showed everyone's genetic codes.

"It will manipulate your mutated DNA structure and transform you into monstrous hybrids under my control," the Ringmaster finished as the machine showed pictures of two animals outlines for each of us.

"What about me? I don't have any unique genetic mutations, so why am I about to be turned into a freak of nature?" Sarah inquired, prompting the Ringmaster to approach her with an ominous smile.

"You're correct when you say that you are nothing special, but I always wondered what would happen when the genetic code of a normal person is mixed with the mutated DNA structure of your friends and boyfriend," the Ringmaster stated, pissing me off beyond belief.

"I swear to God...if you touch her, I'll break you into two pieces asshole!" I threatened lividly while I banged my fists on the glass.

"Hmph, I doubt it," the Ringmaster brushed me off as he went to the machine.

"You are a fucking psycho!" Slam shot at him, but everyone in the room was only able to decipher the last part.

"Ugh, I'm with you Slam," Lexi agreed with an expression of irritation.

"I'm not clinically insane, I'm a master performer! By the way, this is going to hurt...a lot. Otto, proceed," the Ringmaster ordered, and the short assistant started up the machine with glee on his face.

The orb in the machine glowed and powerful currents of electricity into our prisons, causing all of us to scream in agony from our genetic codes being forcibly rewritten. I kept screaming incoherently from the unbearable pain of having my body being changed into another form without my consent, barely opening my eyes to see Sarah convulsing and howling from the agony.

 _"Sa...rah,"_ I struggled to think as a few tears came out and rolled down my cheeks.

"Tech, Ethan, your Gluco-gel things!" Ace called out to us, causing us to fight through the pain while we took out our Gluco-gel 9000s and aimed at the holes above us.

"Here...we...go!" I groaned through gritted teeth that grew sharp, Tech and I shooting the glue through the holes. The glue covered the orb and it started to spin out of control.

"Otto! Otto, what the hell is happening?!" the Ringmaster demanded in alarm while Otto backed up in horror.

"They're gumming up the machine!" Otto notified him in a complete panic just as the orb blew up.

Next thing I knew was being sent flying out of the room and crashing into a storage crate, breaking it apart from the impact and having debris covering me. I groaned in pain as I heard someone rushing over and moving the rubble off of me. I was helped up by someone and was completely rendered silent by horror and disbelief at the sight of my friends and girlfriend.

"Oh God...what the fuck was that all about?" Lexi groaned as everybody stood up, taking a good look at themselves and recoiling in shock with gasps of horror. Ace was a hybrid of a cheetah and deer, Lexi was a hybrid of a skunk and frog, Tech was a hybrid of an alligator and muscular zebra, Daniel was a hybrid of a gorilla and antelope, Slam was a hybrid of a lion and elephant, Rev was a hybrid of a bat and rat, Sarah was a hybrid of a coyote and fox, and I looked at myself to see that I was the hybrid of a muscular wolf and jackal.

"Somebody please tell me I'm not seeing what I think I'm seeing," I whimpered as I felt my fur, the others examining their new forms as Ace approached me.

"Um...hate to say it Doc, but you are," Ace replied as the Ringmaster and Otto weakly got up with nasty looking gashes, bruises, and scrapes.

"You destroyed my Sonic DNA Scrambler, screwed up my main attraction, and I'm not sure but I think I chipped a tooth...you bastards will pay dearly for this!" the Ringmaster shouted in fury as he stood a few feet away from us.

"Ace, blast that son of a bitch," Lexi suggested lowly with a look of cold rage.

Ace obliged by getting ready to shoot, but two flaming looking orbs appeared in his hands and he was forced to drop them in panic.

"What the hell?! Slam, send these assholes flying!" Ace ordered while still looking at his hands in disbelief.

Slam got ready to spin up, but his eyes glowed and he shook his head while looking like he was fighting off a headache.

"It's time for you all to get into the center ring, now!" the Ringmaster shouted as he raised his staff and it glowed.

The cage doors opened up and the hybrid animals came out just as the Ringmaster ordered, "Attention Galactic Oddities, round them up! All of them!"

"Oh shit!" I yelped in alarm at seeing the stampede charging towards us.

Ace formed an egg and tossed it at a hybrid, only for it to go splat on the hybrid's muzzle and he chuckled nervously.

"Oh, crap...I hope you like your eggs sunny-side up," Ace quipped and a roar made him add, "Um...hehheh, guess not."

"Everybody scatter!" Sarah chimed in, prompting everyone to split up in an effort to avoid getting trampled.

Ace quacked onto one of the hybrids, the Ringmaster's back, and Daniel arms since he didn't know how to control it.

"This...is...fucking stupid!" Ace grunted as he quacked away, causing Daniel to shake his fists in protest while Rev was fleeing from many metallic objects and a hybrid that was after him.

"Take that back, asshole! My powers are not fucking stupid!" Daniel retorted in outrage.

Slam was currently fighting against an octopus hybrid and shot a brain-blast, only for me and Tech to get shot in the ass and we yelled in pain as we were sent flying into a wall.

"Arghhh...why does it always have to be us that gets shot in the ass?" Tech groaned as we peeled off the wall and hit the ground face-first.

"Ohhh...I swear to God your ancestor's laughing at us right now since it's not him who's getting shot in the ass," I remarked in pain as we stood up and suddenly got sent flying again by Lexi, who was currently an out of control tornado.

Tech and I hit the wall above Daniel and fell onto him, sending all three of us to the ground and Daniel accidentally blasted Rev into ashes with his new laser eyes. Daniel's eyes widened in horror as he got up and rushed over to the pile of ashes.

"Rev! Oh my God, what the fuck did I just do?! He's dead...oh God forgive me. Rev, I'm sorry for what I just did and I'm sorry for stealing from your secret cookie stash," Daniel confessed while he was crying, only for Rev to reform and glare at Daniel.

"You're the motherfucker who stole from my stash?! I always suspected you were the asshole who did it, but how could I accuse you without any proof?! God, it's been bugging me for months! Danny, only you would be the very asshole who would steal from me!" Rev shouted in outrage, but Daniel stayed silent.

Sarah and I were running away from a rhino eagle hybrid and I saw Sarah tripping, causing panic to break out.

"Sarah!" I cried in alarm and terror as I rushed forward. Sarah reacted by throwing a punch and her arm kept extending like rubber as the hybrid was sent into the ceiling.

Sarah looked in shock while her arm laid on the ground like a spaghetti noodle, just as I knelt down to kiss her desperately.

"Oh thank God you are okay! I almost..." I trailed off as I held her in relief.

"Ethan, how do I get my arm back to normal?" Sarah changed the subject by motioning her head at her unnaturally long arm.

"Focus on retracting it and concentrate," I instructed just as we were about to be attacked by a hybrid.

I glared at the former human and managed to render it out cold with a swift kick to the muzzle. Sarah got her arm back to normal and the two of us got back into the fight. Daniel and Rev were forced to separate when a hybrid charged at them. The hybrid sent Daniel into a wall and he glared at the hybrid as he got out of the imprint in the wall.

"That's it! Taste my laser vision, asshole!" Daniel declared as he shot at the hybrid with his laser blasts.

Pretty soon, Daniel's laser eyes became out of control and everybody in the room kept trying to get out of the way in an effort to prevent getting hit.

"Shit Danny! Shut that off before you fry us all!" I yelped in panic while the laser beam moved around uncontrollably.

"I can't control it! Help!" Danny exclaimed in terror as Ace backflipped out of the way of an incoming laser blast that made a large hole in the floor.

"Danny, close your eyes!" Ace instructed urgently.

Daniel closed his eyes and the laser fire stopped, causing everyone to breathe a sigh of relief as we regrouped.

"We can't keep doing this shit, and this Pepe Le Pew look is definitely not for me," Lexi remarked as she gestured to herself.

"Speak for yourself because I happen to feel pretty comfortable in this form...I might think about changing into it once and a while after this nightmare is over," I muttered while Sarah leaned into me and traced a finger on my left bicep.

"I have to say, Ethan, you look like a hunk," Sarah stated while her eyes comically changed into hearts.

"Okay...if you lovebirds are done, then we need to get the fuck out of here!" Daniel cut in and Ace nodded.

"I never thought I'd say this, but fall back!" Ace ordered just as the hybrids were approaching menacingly.

"Where?! Which way?!" Daniel questioned as we all jumped into the hole, and Ace grabbed him as he jumped in the hole.

I saw that we were inside a sewer of some kind and covered my muzzle in disgust at the powerful stench while we were running down the tunnel.

"Ugh...now we're going to smell like shit once we get out of here...isn't life just fucking dandy," I groaned while we kept running.

* * *

"Tech, Ethan, can you two explain what the fuck is going on here?" Ace inquired while we were wondering the sewers of this house of horrors.

"Our Gluco-gel 9000s destroyed the Sonic DNA Scrambler," Tech started to explain, though everybody was hoping to get good news from him.

"But not fast enough! I mean Christ, look at us!" Ace exclaimed in disbelief while he gestured to himself.

"It also mixed up our genetic codes, which explains why we switched powers and why Sarah gained my elastic abilities," I explained while the monkey hybrid met up with us, causing Daniel to glare at her while he trembled in rage.

"Shut your damn mouth, monkey face! This is all your fucking fault!" Daniel shouted in fury as he tried to hit the hybrid while the animal dodged and blew raspberries at him.

"Well...on the plus side, it can't get any worse than this," Lexi remarked in an effort to raise our morale, only for a low growl to sound out.

Just before we could react, a giant hybrid of a gorilla and snake came out of the sewer water and coiled us tightly with its tail so that we couldn't escape.

"You just had to say it, didn't ya," Ace muttered as we were being lifted to the hybrid's mouth.

We all kept struggling but its grip got even tighter which caused me to yelp in pain.

"Guh...this isn't working, dammit! We need to find a way to get free or we'll get eaten!" I stated while Ace was looking at Slam.

"Ace, if you have a plan, now would be really nice to hear it!" Daniel grunted while he was trying to get us free with his strength.

"Who has Slam's power?" Ace inquired and Lexi perked up.

"Oh! Hey, that would be me!" Lexi stated and spun up into a tornado.

Lexi hit the hybrid in the muzzle many times, knocking it out and freeing us from its grip. Lexi stopped spinning and looked dizzy, sitting down and the rest of us decided to take a breather.

"Oh God...that fucking thing licked me! I am officially scrubbing myself raw for two weeks once this is over with," Lexi said in disgust as she was helped up by Slam.

"I like slime!" Slam grunted.

"Ugh...I agree with you, Lex. I'm also scrubbing myself to get the smell of shit and God knows what else off me," I agreed while we all were recovering from our recent near-death experience.

"We need to come up with a plan and fast because I can't live like this!" Tech stated as he looked at his gator tail.

"Alright, the way I see it, we gotta somehow rebuild the Ringmaster's Sonic DNA Scrambler and reverse the transformation. Either of you up to it?" Ace asked me, Tech, and Sarah while he winked. I reached into a pocket, grateful our suits have merged with our new forms, and took out a handheld computer.

"Normally, it would take one of us at least two days to reconstruct a machine of that magnitude, but with the three of us working together and Rev's super speed, we would need...about less than a minute give or take," I stated while activating four holo screens with different information on each of them, and grouped them into one picture of the very thing we were going to build.

"Just what we needed to hear, so let's get to it," Ace said as we started moving again.

* * *

After navigating the sewers, we managed to find a manhole cover and looked up.

"I'll go first," I announced quietly, going up the ladder and gently opening the cover about an inch.

 _"Time to use this form's powerful sense of smell,"_ I thought while I sniffed the surrounding area for any guards, and I didn't pick up any nearby scents which caused me to look down at the others.

"It's all clear but stay on high alert since we don't know where the guards are," I whispered and the others nodded.

I opened the cover fully and we all got out, moving quietly to the lab and eventually finding the entrance that was guarded by rhino eagle hybrids with AK47s and staffs.

"Damn...we need to distract them somehow," I muttered quietly as we slowly moved out of cover and snuck over to the next cover.

"Ace, those hybrid creatures have amazing hearing so we don't want to get their attention," Rev whispered softly, but the hybrids started sniffing the air and whipped their heads at us with growls.

"Oh crap! I thought I was being quiet!" Rev exclaimed in alarm as the hybrids started to surround us, aiming their rifles and staffs.

"You were Rev, it's just that the reason they noticed us is that we smell like shit and God knows what else!" I notified as we all got ready to fight.

"Tech, Ethan, Sarah, we'll cover you! Now go!" Ace ordered as the others got into combat stances.

Tech took our hands, using his super speed to zip all three of us into the lab while the others were dodging the rapid gunfire and laser fire. Slam tried to shoot back with his brain-blasts, but he couldn't get his aim right.

"Son of a bitch!" Slam snarled in frustration, and Lexi leaned in to whisper.

"Slam, concentrate...pretend he stole your lunch and brain-blast him!" Lexi shouted the last part, Slam following the instructions by charging up a brain blast and shooting one of the hybrids into a wall.

"I'll be damned...we can beat these assholes if we work together!" Ace told Daniel, who fired laser blasts at the hybrids and sending one flying.

As for Tech, Sarah, and I, we made it to the lab and spotted the Ringmaster trying to fix it.

"It's over, asshole! Surrender now or you bet your ass we'll hurt you!" Tech threatened, causing the Ringmaster to whip around and shoot daggers at us.

"You three! You bastards have been a pain in the ass for the last time! Screw it, I'm going to kill you and your friends since you all are far too much trouble to be my main attraction!" the Ringmaster declared as he flipped a switch on his staff, causing a whip made of electricity to come out. The Ringmaster tried to strike us and we were forced to dodge the attacks.

"Too slow, missed me, try again asshole!" Tech taunted as he zipped around and snatched the whip out of the Ringmaster's hand.

"My turn, you prick!" Tech stated and struck the Ringmaster, sending him crashing into a wall and he slumped to the ground out cold.

"That's for calling me, Ethan, and Sarah eggheads," Tech said lowly after breaking the handle of the whip and tossing it to the floor.

"You tell him, man! Now, let's get to work on our own Sonic DNA Scrambler," I stated as we went to the machine and got to work.

Meanwhile, Rev used his magnetic abilities to rip out a street light and send it into two hybrids that were charging at him.

"Nighty-night, lights out, sweet dreams, see ya!" Rev mocked as he went to fight back against more shooters.

Lexi spun up and rushed to an attacker who was frantically trying to reload, punching him and sending him flying as she stopped spinning.

"Hell yeah! I think I'm getting used to this!" Lexi declared victoriously as she went to beat up more attackers.

As for Tech, Sarah, and I, we built our new invention into a metal glove and Tech grabbed it.

"Well, I'll be damned...finished under less than a minute," Tech muttered, looking slightly impressed as he put the glove on.

"The Genetic Descrambler is ready to rescramble," I added as we all went to leave the room.

Pretty soon, we changed most of the hybrids back to normal kids, police officers, soldiers, and regular civilians.

"Tech, Sarah, Ethan, I see you three found the reverse switch," Ace greeted as he and the others entered the room.

 _"Almost done,"_ I thought while Tech finished up and we all gathered together.

"Okay, time for a group photo," Sarah quipped as Tech raised his gloved fist.

The glove glowed and I felt myself change back painlessly, seeing us all back to normal and the monkey hybrid changing back into the familiar hooded figure of Zadavia.

"I'm back...hello Daniel," Zadavia greeted with a hard edge.

"Um...you mean...all along, that little monkey thing was...uh, heh heh. You never looked better," Daniel whimpered slightly with a nervous grin.

"We need to talk," Zadavia stated just as the Ringmaster came stumbling into the room with a groan and a hand on his head.

The Ringmaster saw us and bolted, prompting Daniel to quickly say, "Sorry, love to chat but we gotta go stop Ringmaster!"

"Stay the hell away from me, you bastards!" the Ringmaster cried in panic as we chased after him. Ace shot the door panel to the escape pod and blocked the Ringmaster's way out.

"And that's a wrap, circus boy," Ace declared.

"The show is over," Lexi added just as the Ringmaster pulled out a gun and placed it against his own head.

"Stay back, or I'll shoot myself! Do you hear me?! I'd rather die than go to prison!" the Ringmaster shouted desperately with a wild look in his eyes.

"Actually, the show must go on! For we have one last surprise," a voice rang out and we saw Otto coming out of the shadows with a smirk.

"What the hell are you talking about, gnome man? Don't tell me you brought over your circus freaks too?" I quipped, but I was ignored.

"Feast your eyes on our main attraction!" Otto declared as he pulled out a remote and blasted a beam of energy at the Ringmaster.

The Ringmaster screamed as his body changed into an ugly looking chimera, who roared and started to approach us menacingly.

"Ugh...just when I thought they couldn't get any uglier," I muttered in disgust.

"The Ringmaster's only the face of this circus. I'm the real brains under the Big Top, so he works for me," Otto stated while pushing a few buttons on the remote.

"Attack!" Ace ordered, prompting all of us to separate while Ace blocked a tentacle by blasting it.

Tech ran over to the far end of the room and tried to use the gauntlet, but a tentacle knocked the glove out of his hand and smashed it which caused Tech to gasp in horror.

"Fuck! How the hell could I've let this happen?!" Tech shouted in disbelief while Sarah and I rushed over.

"Tech, move!" Sarah exclaimed in alarm as we dragged him away from a tentacle that almost killed us.

Sarah glared up at the monster as we got Tech to safety and she charged, shockingly stretching her torso and coiling around the monster to restrain it.

"What...the fuck?" I breathed in shock as I witnessed Sarah displaying my elastic abilities, even though we were back to normal.

"Stupid monster, your tentacles are no match for...Danger Duck!" Daniel declared while quacking, just as a fist smashed him into the ground and left him laying in a crater.

"Argh...but your fucking fist is a contender," Daniel groaned in pain while raising an index finger.

Slam grabbed one of the monster's claws and ripped it off, being covered in a spray of blood as he threw it at the monster. The monster grew back another claw and slapped the old one away, resulting in the claw to hit the ground and nearly crush Otto as it skidded into a wall.

"Whoops," Slam muttered in embarrassment just as I met up with him.

"Somebody give the poor bastard a hand," I quipped, causing Slam to send me a deadpan look.

"Oh, dammit! What the hell have you done?!" Otto shouted in horror as he held the broken remote.

I saw the monster was about to shoot fire at Sarah and Lexi, and I reacted by tackling them out of the way and I wound up on top of Sarah.

"Hmm...guess you can't take your hands off of me," Sarah flirted, causing me to blush as I helped her up.

"Okay, now this fucker is pissing me off," Lexi stated in irritation as we met up with the others.

"Soundwaves trigger the DNA transformations. We need to create a sonic boom," Tech chimed in and Ace looked thoughtful.

"Sonic boom, huh? Yo Slam, twist and shout!" Ace instructed while looking at Slam.

Slam revved up and spun around the monster that caused a giant tornado to form around the monster's torso.

"Okay Rev, your turn," Ace said, and Rev zipped to the monster while making the tornado even bigger with his super speed.

"Now, hit it hard!" Ace ordered as we all reached the tornado and used our powers to overwhelm the monster. The monster screamed as I saw it changing back to human form, a combination of mallet strikes from me and Sarah, along with blasts and eggs pounding the monster hard.

"Now! Back off, Loonatics! The sonic vibrations could send the Big Top out of the sky!" Ace notified us and we all stopped hitting the monster, the rest of us running to take shelter while Rev and Slam kept overwhelming the monster.

Just like Ace predicted, the ceiling was destroyed by an explosion that was followed by several others while Rev and Slam stopped. I saw the Ringmaster back to normal as he passed out and hit the floor.

"Oh, crap...the Space Circus just ran out of space!" Daniel informed us in alarm just as the flaming ship passed the city and crashed right into the nearby ocean.

We were all thrown into the air and hit the ground in a dog pile, all of us groaning while Sarah's new elastic abilities tangled us all together.

"Ow," Daniel said dully as he quacked out of the dog pile, Sarah managing to retract her entire body to free all of us.

"Guys, shorty's on the run!" Lexi informed us when she spotted the Ringmaster and Otto trying to make a break for it.

Tech and I aimed our Gluco-gel 9000s at the two criminals and fired. The glue hit their bodies and formed into large cubes that only left their heads exposed. Otto glared at the Ringmaster as we all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Tech, Ethan, those were lucky shots," Lexi remarked, and the two of us grinned as we twirled our guns like old western cowboys.

"True genius is never appreciated," Tech stated as we holstered our guns and crossed our arms.

"Damn straight, brother," I agreed just as military Blackhawks and hover police cars appeared above us, shining down searchlights.

"Attention, this is the police and the US Army! Rescue units have been dispatched and will be securing the area for evacuation!" a man on a microphone stated as rope dropped down onto the ground and armed soldiers wearing camouflaged uniforms with flack jackets, helmets, and gloves slid down from the Blackhawks.

The soldiers unslung their rifles and moved methodically while aiming at the Ringmaster and Otto, the two men looking nervous at seeing the M16s, M4 rifles, and laser rifles being aimed at them. Eventually, the police and the military secured the area and rescue medical helicopters took the former hybrids to a nearby hospital, just as I and the others were getting checked out by EMTs.

"You don't need to do this. We'll be perfectly fine," I refused while the EMT shined a light into my eyes.

"I don't doubt that, but it's better we check you all out just to be safe. Okay, look at my finger and follow it," the woman instructed while putting away the flashlight and holding up a finger.

I followed the finger while she moved it left and right, saying, "Hmm...perfect response and your pupils aren't dilated, so you don't have a concussion. And your injuries are healing much faster than a normal human...it doesn't surprise me since you are a member of the Loonatics."

"Yeah...I do heal faster than most people," I remarked as the EMT packed up and I stood up from my seat.

"Well, between you and me, my son is a big fan of you and your friends. He has action figures, comic books, t-shirts, and hats that are about you guys," the woman stated, causing me to look at her in surprise.

"Wait...there's merchandise about us?" I questioned in confusion.

"Of course. Saving the city and the world every day, people are definitely going to create merchandise about you guys," the woman said and asked, "Listen, is it alright that I and several others have a group photo with you guys? My son and husband would love it. So, is it alright?"

"Well, you're going to have to ask my team leader since it's his call," I responded.

The woman nodded and went over to see Ace just as I headed over to Sarah.

"Hey," Sarah greeted as I sat down next to her.

"Hey...Sarah, I want to say I'm sorry," I apologized while looking down.

"For what?" Sarah asked in confusion.

"For getting you involved in this dangerous situation today, and for almost losing you," I admitted.

"It wasn't your fault. How could you have known that this was about to happen?" Sarah assured while resting a hand on my arm.

"But it did happen and you almost got killed...shit, I know better than to bring you into a very dangerous situation without being prepared," I stated while Sarah leaned onto me.

"But I survived, so please don't think about the what-ifs since it's not good for you," Sarah told me while I caught a whiff of shit coming off of her.

"Ugh...we smell horrible," I remarked as we leaned away from each other and covered our noses.

"Yeah...maybe we should clean ourselves up first before we sleep together in a bed," Sarah agreed and we laughed as the EMT came over to us.

"I asked and your team leader said it was okay, though you all should get cleaned up first. No offense, but you two and the others look like shit...smell like it too," the woman informed us while covering her nose.

"Oh don't worry, because we were planning on scrubbing ourselves once we get back to HQ," I stated as we stood up and met up with the others.

* * *

Loonatic Tower, Acmetropolis, California, April 7, 2773.

After heading home, we all went to our rooms to scrub ourselves off to get rid of the smell of shit and God knows what else. Then, we put our uniforms in the cleaners and replaced them with fresh ones just as Zadavia contacted us in the Meeting Room.

"The Ringmaster and Otto have been taken into custody by the FBI and all of the humans who were turned into Galactic Oddities have been reunited with their families. Once again, Acmetropolis and the US Government is in your debt, so excellent work as always," Zadavia complimented us and Ace looked at Daniel, who was hiding his face behind a magazine.

"Uh, anything you want to add, boss?" Ace questioned while looking at our vain teammate, who was peeking over his little shield.

"Not at the moment, Ace," Zadavia answered, but a mischievous gleam in her eyes told me that she knew what he was suggesting.

"Hmmm...anybody here you may want to have a few words with?" Ace asked and received a growl from Daniel, who was glaring at him in displeasure.

"I don't believe so, Zadavia out," Zadavia cut the transmission and Ace looked at Daniel, who glanced back at him.

"Is she gone?" Daniel asked hesitantly.

"Yes Danny, she's gone so you can chill the fuck out," Ace assured him while getting out of his chair.

"Thank God...I thought for sure that she was going to give me hell for ragging on her while she was that disgusting monkey thing. I suppose this finally proves that Zadavia likes me best," Daniel remarked while leaning back in his chair, only for his good mood to disappear when Zadavia appeared again.

"Oh, I did forget one thing. Daniel, we need to talk, alone. Now!" Zadavia emphasized with a stern expression.

"Hahahahaha! Busted!" Slam laughed while lifting the magazine with a grin and the rest of us went to leave Daniel to his fate.

"Help," I heard Daniel whimper as the doors closed shut, Sarah and I heading to the Lab so that I could do some bloodwork on her and figure out what had happened to her.

Sarah and I entered the lab and the others followed behind us in order to see what theory Tech and I could come up with to explain the radical change Sarah went through.

"Okay Sarah, just take a seat over there, roll up your sleeve and we'll be with you in a second," Tech instructed and Sarah went over to sit down on the sterilized bed.

I went over to a drawer and took out a covered syringe, also getting a cotton ball and a bottle of peroxide, then put on white rubber gloves. I went over to Sarah, placing the bottle and cotton ball down as Tech handed me a thick rubber band and a clear plastic tube as I placed the syringe down and attached the tube to the syringe.

"Okay Sarah, you're only going to feel a little pinch so take deep slow breaths and don't think about it. It'll be over before you even know it," I reassured while tying the rubber band on her arm, damping the cotton ball and dabbing her arm.

I gently tapped her arm to feel for a vein and nodded when I felt one, taking the syringe and uncovering the needle. I gently took Sarah's arm and carefully stuck the needle in the vein, feeling her tense up as the small tube filled up completely with blood and I removed the needle from her arm, along with untying the rubber band.

"Is it over?" Sarah inquired while I placed a small cotton ball with tape against the puncture mark.

"That's it, it's all over. I'm surprised...you didn't even make a sound since most people I've known freak out when getting their blood taken," I remarked as I removed the syringe and put it in the biohazard disposal unit. Then I took the blood sample to a centrifuge and placed the sample inside before I closed the lid. The machine started up and I waited for the sample to separate.

After working on isolating the DNA, I took out the sample and used a thin tiny glass slide, placing the sample under a microscope and looking for any changes. Pretty soon, my eyes widened when I saw the DNA strand had anomalies similar to me and the others.

"Holy shit...Tech, look at this," I said while gesturing for him to come and see.

I backed up while Tech was looking through the microscope, seeing his eyes also widening while I took off my gloves and put them in the disposal unit.

"What? What is it?" Sarah asked while looking nervous.

"Sarah...your genetic code is completely altered like mine and the others. Whatever the Sonic DNA Scrambler did to you, it caused a rapid mutation in your DNA structure that changed you down to the cellular level...this is...there are no words to describe how fascinating this is because you have evolved into a meta-human like the rest of us," I explained while feeling complete astonishment.

"Incredible...so, what do we do?" Sarah inquired curiously.

"Well...I guess we train you on how to use your abilities and get you ready for missions. I guess you are now officially a member of the Loonatics, though we need to talk to Zadavia about this and get her approval," I stated and Ace nodded.

"He's right. I may be the team leader but Zadavia's the team founder, so the final decision is completely up to her," Ace agreed and Lexi looked excited.

"This is fucking exciting! It would be nice having another girl on the team, so I can't wait for you to be out in the field with us!" Lexi squealed and took Sarah's hands so that she could lead her out of the Lab.

I smiled at seeing Lexi looking so excited, knowing that things had gotten much more interesting around here.

* * *

A/N Oh God, I'm truly sorry for not updating this and having you all wonder why I was taking so long. The truth is that I simply had writer's block that prevented me from updating and coming up with new stories didn't help, so I want to greatly apologize for keeping you all waiting and I hope that this doesn't happen again. So, how did you all like the twist I put down? I think Sarah will be able to do more good as a superhero then be stuck in a lab all day while waiting for the others to come back. Let me know how you all like the chapter and stay tuned.


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